Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Ahsoka forces her eyes open. It’s difficult to tell what’s going on from her current position on the ground, but not completely impossible. It’s quite clear that they're losing.

Master Obi-Wan is lying unconscious against the far wall seemingly missing an arm, and Anakin was only barely holding his own. Even if she didn’t have the whole picture, it’s pretty clear that things hadn’t gone to plan.

Maybe they should have requested the council's help after all. All things considered it probably would have produced a slightly better outcome than a Master with a chopped off arm, an insane looking soon to be father, and a 17 year old bleeding out on the floor.

Oh right, that’s not good. 

She wasn’t even sure why she was leaking blood to begin with. Didn’t lightsabers cauterize the wound?

Come to think of it, Ahsoka can’t really remember anything after the fight started. The blood loss must be getting to her.

Well that or she had a concussion, which was really equally as likely in this situation.

The burning sensation in her lungs becomes too difficult to ignore. Pain shoots through her as she coughs and hacks up a red liquid that appears to be more blood. 

That seems like as good a sign as any to tell her that her time with the living was increasingly more limited.

Ahsoka had long since come to terms with her death, she spent her formative years on the front lines after all, but in all times she’s dreamed of it, in all her nightmares it never ended like this.

It was always a blaze of glory, a noble sacrifice that saved the lives of her brother, her men, and really whoever else was in the area. But that wasn’t what happened here.

All she’d managed to do before her end was bring Anakin and Obi-Wan down with her. Because her stupid ego made her believe she had the ability to even come close to defeating a Sith master.

A Sith master who had finally managed to corner Anakin, and was about to end this fight once and for all, effectively cementing the fall of the republic and the crippling of galactic democracy.

It was really going to end like this. All those troopers will have lost their lives for nothing. Nothing short of a miracle could stop Palpatine from winning.

Ahsoka Tano, for the first time in her life, was giving up. For the first time seeing a no-win scenario for what it truly was.

But is that what she wants her last act to be? What other choice did a frail dying girl have? 

Well you're not dead yet. A voice in her head reminds her.

You need to do something. 

Ahsoka makes up her mind. Even if she ended up doing nothing, even if she could only move an inch she was still going to try. Her determination is what makes her strong, and the Republic will not fall to this wrinkly old hag if she has anything to say about it.

Electrocuted and bleeding out she’s still alive, and because of this she still has the possibility to change things. 

Ahsoka brings her arms off the floor and pushes herself up with shaky limbs. Her entire body screamed in protest but she pushed it down, and a fire seems to ignite inside her as she releases her pain into the force. Somehow she does the impossible and manages to get her body upright.

She plants one foot on the ground.

Palpatine doesn’t notice.

Her abdomen screams as she pulls herself up off the floor but she pushes through with the help of the fire. Not even the lightheadedness of the blood loss gets to her as the fire spreads through her veins. 

It’s pleasant almost, like a burning embrace. She uses it to call on her discarded shoto blade. The fire extends to grab it and coats the force around it in a thick mist allowing her to retrieve it without alerting Palpatine to her position. Ahsoka staggers closer to the Sith, who’s still bearing down on Anakin, keeping him trapped in a last ditch effort to convince him to fall. If her master see’s her he doesn’t show a reaction.

Step after step Ahsoka can feel her life draining, the fire is keeping her alive but only barely. A foot has turned into a mile as what little life is left inside her continues to flicker out. She can feel the pain rushing back to her as her legs begin to buckle.

No not now! not when she’s so close. Three feet has never seemed farther away. No, my brothers lives can't be for nothing, won’t be for nothing.

With one final push she summons the last of the fire and channels it into a vault, and slices Sidious clean through the neck.

Anakin can’t believe Palpatine had talked him into going to this. Staring at big bubbles for 3 hours was unquestionably not his idea of a good time. On top of that all the rich people in line in front of him seemed to be taking forever to simply walk through the door. Pretty soon he’d bet good money that he would have spent more time standing here than actually watching the show.

So when he gets a notification on his emergency comm it almost comes as a relief. He may be on leave right now but war waits for nothing and no one. 

Especially not some stupid bubble show.

A quick look at the comm tells him who his new savior is.

Ahsoka

Anakin smiles at the familiarity. She’d been away from him for a few months at most, but it had managed to feel like only a few days and a year at the same time. Between her being back and the news of his child it felt like his life was finally clicking into place.

“You should probably put that thing on silent, you don’t want to be thinking about the war while on your leave do you?” Palpatine's voice cut through his thoughts.

“I’m sorry chancellor, but it’s urgent”, he replied. And it wasn’t a lie. He had yet to actually check what the contents of the message was. For all he knew his old padawan could be in danger right now. Maul was capable of killing masters for Kriffs sake! Why would he ever had though it to be ok to send her out there on her-

“Oh I’m sure Master Kenobi can handle himself, I fear that he’s been relying on you to sort out his messes far too much as of late” Palpatine interrupts his thoughts, disregarding Anakin's obvious panic.

“It’s not Obi-Wan this time, it's Ahsoka. We sent her to go fight Maul, the ex-sith-apprentice ” He explains in a panicked state.

A subtle horror fills the old man’s features, “You sent a child to go fight maul. My that’s horribly irresponsible, how could Kenobi do something like that after what happened to his master.” He paused for a moment to let his words sink in for Anakin. “If I didn’t know any better than I would say he was trying to get dear little Ahsoka killed.”

Of course that can’t be true. Obi-Wan loves Ahsoka, maybe even more than he did Anakin. Even though he was ok with the council sentencing her, and knew just how dangerous Maul he would never intentionally harm her. He wouldn’t- would he?

“Ahh I see you coming to the same conclusion as me.” Palpatine says with a somber look. “The council and your master didn’t approve of your Padawan, and it unfortunately seems that with her gone they're targeting you next.”

Anakin balls his fists, “The council, how far do you think they might go?” He needed to know. Some might call him paranoid for considering that they would do something like this, but there’s something about watching your padawan be seconds away from a death sentence that puts major cracks in a man’s trust.

If they were willing to sit passively and watch Ahsoka die then, who’s to say they won’t go a step further now.

“Unfortunately I cannot say for sure, but at this point anything is possible,” Palpatine states. “I can only recommend following your heart, it’s always been in the right place my boy.” He gives Anakin a small smile and a pat on the back.

“I need to go to her,” Anakin decides. Even if this comm turned out to be nothing he still couldn’t leave her to face Maul alone. What kind of master would he be if he let her do something she wasn’t ready for, and what kind of brother would he be if he just let her get killed. 

Whether that be by Maul or the Council.

He had failed his sister once and he was sure as kriff wasn’t going to do it again.

“A wise choice. Go be there for your student in the way Kenobi never was for you.”

He gives a final nod to the chancellor and steps out of the line that he’d been in for the past hour, then rushes for his speeder. The fastest way to Mandalore would have been his interceptor but as of the last battle it was a little worse for wear (completely destroyed), and his normal backup of stealing Obi-Wan’s also wouldn’t work for similar reasons.

So after ignoring several traffic laws Anakin makes his way to the temple hanger to examine his options. There are several unmanned ships but one specifically catches his attention. Ki-Adi-Mundi’s.

It would only be fair for him to steal it, after all Master Mundi had been the one to first accuse Ahsoka.

He boarded the now stolen ship and headed out. 

Only just before he was about to set the coordinates to mandalore did he realize he hadn’t actually checked the message.

Oops, maybe Obi-Wan was right about him being impulsive.

The message itself is short. It just says come quick, and lists a set of coordinates. He sets them into the navi-computer and makes the jump.

——————————————————————

It’s safe to say that Anakin was nothing short of shocked when he arrived and saw the situation.

Instead of a dead/wounded padawan and a crazy Sith on the loose, he is instead met by Ahsoka and Obi-Wan angrily discussing something, and the red man trapped in a box.

The togruta notices him first, “Anakin, I can’t tell you how good it is to see you.”

“It’s good to see you too Snips, but if Maul is present and dealt with, what’s the reason for bringing us both out here?” What was the reason for bringing Obi-Wan here as well?  

“I have information that could save the republic and democracy as we know it,” she gives.

Well ok then, yah that definitely seems pretty important.

Obi-Wan gets an annoyed look on his face and jumps back into the argument. “Which is why you should have taken this information directly to the council instead of just Anakin and I.”

Anakin tried to figure out what the council could gain from this, how they could possibly turn this against him and Ahsoka. Maybe they could twist her words? Make it seem like she was self reporting or-

“Master you have to trust me on this, there’s something practically screaming in the force for me to not get them involved. Can you not feel it as well?” She pleads

Kenobi’s look turns from annoyed to clear undecided anger, “Are you unaware that you got this information from a Sith! How are you sure this isn’t just him furthering his agenda? For all you know he could be putting that feeling in your head.”

This argument was feeling painfully similar to the one back on the Resolute. As proud as Anakin was of Ahsoka’s growing negotiation skills it was starting to get kind of annoying.

“He has nothing to gain by feeding me false information!” Ahsoka sighs, “at least hear me out first. Please”. She then remembers her best negotiation tool, and hits Obi-Wan with tooka eyes. Anakin knows from personal experience that they can be unfairly hard to resist.

Sure enough Obi-Wan gives in.

“Alright, but if I see it fit then I will be sharing this information with the council.”

Ahsoka looks reluctant but concedes,“Fine by me”.

Finally they finished. Maybe he didn't even need to protect her from the council, she seemed to be doing just fine against them on her own. “Ok now that you’ve got that sorted, can we get back to the apparently very pressing matter at hand.”

“Yah so about that”, her expression shifts taking on somewhat of a grimace before turning to Anakin. Blue eyes meeting Blue. “There's no real easy way to say this but I think the chancellor is a Sith Lord.”

What the kriff.

Obi-Wan's eyes widened and he looked like he had just found the missing piece to a puzzle. “That would- certainly explain things.” He agrees.

It would?

“No, it really wouldn't.” Anakin exclaimed, his voice dropping low and gaining an all too familiar anger to it, “The Chancellor is a kind man, I’m one of the closest people to him, if Palpatine was a Sith Lord I would know”.

Ahsoka, who knew that this would most likely be Anakin’s reaction, had already prepared a counter argument and fired back against his criticism. “He’s a politician, just because you think you know him doesn’t mean you do. He’s been grooming you since you first arrived at the temple, you have to see!”

“Can you remind me where you got this information from! Are you seriously trusting a crazy warlord shit over your own master?” Anakin raised his voice back up and stepped closer to her. It was a tactic that he used back in the day to intimidate her into dropping something when she would try to convince him to let her do something dangerous or stupid. What he neglected to consider was just how much she had grown in their time apart.

Ahsoka takes a step closer to him, not showing any signs of backing down in the slightest. When she raised her head to meet his gaze the tilt was only slight, so unlike what it used to be. “You need to put your personal feelings aside on this one”, her voice was stone cold, “I know that you're a good person, and you only want the best for your friend but I will not sacrifice the fate of this republic fto spare your feelings.” She takes a step back and turns so that she’s speaking to Obi-Wan as well. “If either of you disagree with this then I will go after him without you. If you both disagree then I will free Maul and attempt to take him down that way. I would prefer not to do that but if that’s what is necessary than I am willing to take the risk”

It was clear now that this wasn’t the little girl that had walked out of the shuttle on Christophsis, in need of a master's protection. His worrying over her and the council looked nothing sort of silly now. Despite the circumstances Anakin was nothing short of proud. And although he might not have a reason to believe in anything of what she’s saying, the determined look in her eye makes him want to at least hear the ex-jedi out.

Kenobi removes his hand from where it had previously been on his beard. “I will help you” He says, with a mix of determination and guilt if Anakin was reading him right. “Although I must reiterate, the council would be greatly beneficial in taking on Palpatine if he really is what you accuse him of.”

“Listen, I know it may not make any sense but I need you to trust me on this one.” She pleads, “It feels like the force itself is practically begging me not to let them go- that if they do something terrible will happen.” Her previous cold calm had diminished slightly, leaving room for the two men to see the desperation that had begun to peak through the cracks of her mask.

It pulls on something in Anakin and escalates the war in his head. He valued his friendship with, and trusted the chancellor, but he didn't believe Ahsoka could lie to him like this. 

And what kind of chosen one would he be if he didn’t listen to what the force apparently had to say?

“I don’t sure I fully believe you Ahsoka.” He watches as her face falls even more, “but I’m willing to see where this will go. I’ll come, even if for no other reason than to protect my friend when he proves his innocence.”

“ If he proves his innocence” his old master corrects.

___

The travel back to Coruscant was silent. Obi-Wan had conceded and agreed to leave the out of this, now choosing to spend the trip meditating, Ahsoka was in the cockpit, for some reason choosing to spend her possible last hours gazing into the empty void of space, and Anakin was left fiddling with the controls on his lightsaber.

Fixing things always put him in a clearer headspace, his hope was that doing so would allow him to think this situation through more. But unfortunately he was still stuck in the middle. The chancellor had made some good points about the Jedi, and had helped him through some of his hardest times, but Ahsoka-

Anakin just didn’t know. In the end it came down to who he trusted more. 

The shuttle touched down on Coruscant just outside of the senate building. Walking up those steps felt like an out of body experience. Was he really going to do it? Could he do it if need be?

The guards don’t even give them a second glance due to his presence.

Ahsoka leads them as they burst through the doors to Palpatine's office. The man inside did not appear shocked by this sudden interruption.

“Ah, young Miss Tano- To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Ahsoka doesn't even acknowledge his words, instead activating her lightsaber and launching into an attack.

Anakin just stood there, his feet as heavy as rocks.

His duty to the republic to defend the chancellor at all costs, and his duty to the Jedi, to not let an unarmed seemingly innocent being be killed all seem to be forgotten as he stands and watches his little sister lunge at the man who’s been one of the closest things he’s ever had to a father.

Will he attack? Will he defend himself? Can he even defend himself?

A crackling sound encompassed the room. In what feels like only a second, Ahsoka had traveled completely across the room and slammed into the back wall, with a sizzling sound coming off of her.

Then for the first time ever he hears Obi-Wan scream. Not one of pain, or a battle cry, but a blood curdling gut wrenching scream. He follows Ahsoka’s lead and begins an assault. This time Palpatine knows he won't get away with a simple lightning strike and pulls out a crimson red blade to meet Kenobi’s.

Did- did he always have that? This whole time, all these years when he was mentoring and comforting Anakin. Every time he went to complain about something, or share an achievement he was hiding a screaming crystal from plain sight. Only yesterday he was taking Anakin to a show out of his own pocket. Was the man who Anakin looked up to was all just a cover for this? 

“Anakin help me!” A voice brought him out of his thoughts. He wasn’t sure which man it was from. They both seemed to be looking at him mid fight, begging him to join on their side. Like they seemed to be for his whole time with the Jedi. Yesterday he probably would have chosen Palpatine. 

Yesterday Palpatine was trying to convince him that Obi-Wan was trying to get him and Askoa killed. 

How was he so blind?

But today was different. Today he knew what he was choosing, knew who had just thrown his padawan across the room, and was currently backing his master into a corner with an unexpected strength.

He ignites his blade and goes for the kill. 

Palpatine dodges but it manages to push him back for the first time, and just like that Anakin joins the fray.

A flurry of red and blue blades flood the room, going back and forth for what feels like hours. His muscles scream at the intense exertion even if it probably has only actually been a few minutes. Somewhere along the line Ahsoka manages to recover enough to join the fight. At this point Anakin’s not sure that even death could keep her down. 

The three of them work in tandem, circling the Sith like vultures and boxing him in. Palpatine ignites a second saber but the odds still arent in his favor. 

Between Anakin’s unpredictable strong strikes, Obi-Wan’s steady defense, and Ahsoka’s precise acrobatics, he didn’t stand a chance.

Anakin sees an opening and takes it, pouncing on the Sith This is it. The war will be over, and I can raise my kids and-

“What if they die?” Papatines says looking dead into his eyes.

Anakin stops in his tracks, lightsaber remaining drawn back. How did he know? How could he know?

His hesitation was just what Papatine was looking for.

A cry rings out.

He turns to its source to see Ahsoka, with a red blade embedded in her gut. He yet again can’t do anything but stand there and watch as Palpatine hits her with another round of force light, propelling her across the room and against the wall, just barely missing sending her through the window.

Palpatine deflects another even more angered slash from Kenobi without breaking eye contact from Anakin. “That my dear boy, is what will happen to you children if you do not join me.” He says as a devilish grin spreads across his face.

But Palpatine must have been truly insane if he had thought that that would work. You can’t just kill one child and promise to save two more. Ahsoka was and always will be just as much family as his wife and children. The fact that the Sith fails to understand that only proves he deserves more than just a quick lightsaber to the throat.

The lightsabers of the two masters lock again.

Anakin spares one last look at Ahsoka, who’s now bleeding out on the floor after some shattered glass got notched in her wound. The girl he’d sworn to protect. Dying. The reality hit him hard at that moment.

Anakin saw red.

He charged putting every last ounce of his power into the strikes, hoping that the title of ‘Chosen One’ finally got put to good use in ending the decrepit waste of air. Sith and Jedi be damned he was using every trick in his arsenal, light side or not.

“Good boy, use your anger, use your hate ” Palpatine hissed out.

And he will. Oh force he will .

Anakin calls one of  Ahsoka’s abandoned blades to him and lets loose. No longer even aware of Obi-Wan fighting with him. Anger clouds his vision, and the only thing he can hear is the hiss of blades connecting.

By this point he’d lost all self preservation instincts, and each one of Palpatine's strikes got closer to hitting him then the last.

Then the Sith saw an opening. A quick lapse in Anakin’s guard but a lapse nonetheless. He took it. Anakin saw what was happening but it was too late, all he could do was clench his jaw and brace for impact.

Impact that never came.

He saw a flash of ginger hair fly in front of him, but just as soon as it was there it was gone, along with a shout of pain and a thud against the wall. 

Not Obi-Wan too, NO.

Another jab is sent his way and he has to react. He can’t even look over to see what has become of his old master, too busy countering crimson blades. 

Anakin was so sure they had him, and now what. 

They were all going to die here.

He was never going to meet his kids.

A sob escaped him. How had it come to this? How was he too concerned about being a stupid jedi master to not notice such a dark presence looming in the corner.

Their blades locked. The Sith sent a wave of dark force down on him, crushing him to keep him in place.

“It doesn’t have to be like this Anakin.” Palpatine says, all the hatred disappearing from his features . The face of the kind old man who had mentored him trying to replace it. “You don’t 

have to die with these wretched Jedi. You were always so much more than them, they just manipulated you into not seeing it.”

“ No ! ” Anakin screams, using his voice for the first time during the fight . A testament to how much he truly fears the Sith, as he not only forgoes his usual quips, but any response whatsoever.

“Such a shame.” Palpatine responds. “You would have made such a good apprentice, but you will die like filth along with the rest of them. And with that he raises his saber, keeping the force wall in place to inhibit Anakin from moving, and goes for the kill.

There’s nothing left to save him now and he knows it. So once again he squeezes his eyes shut, prays to whatever hid it out there that his children will be safe, and braces for the end.

An end that yet again, doesn’t come.

He opens his eyes just in time to see a familiar cyan blade cut through the end of the Sith Lords neck. 

The force wall lifts and Palpatine crumples, revealing a shaking bloody togruta standing over him.

“It’s finally over.” She breathed out, her voice barely audible. Then she collapsed.

Chapter Text

Time seems to slow as Ahsoka falls, her eyes roll back into her skull then flutter shut. Anakin can see every muscle in her body give out as she dropss to the floor. He reaches out to catch her before her head can hit the ground. When Anakin looks down at the girl in his arms he’s nothing short of horrified. What used to be bright orange skin had now dulled to a pale peach, and glass was embedded in it everywhere he looked. The blood from her wounds had seeped through her clothing and now coated her entire back, some of it even transferring to his hands as he cradles her. Her face was not even scrunched up in pain, instead showing just a blank lifeless expression.

Anakin knew exactly what was happening to her

But force be damned he was not about to let her go that easily.

He summoned whatever power he still had left after the fight and poured it all into Ahsoka. Healing never came as easily to him as the other more flashy skills but he begged every god out there that he knew enough to save her, to keep her dull force signature form completely fading into nonexistents.

Sirens rang out around them.

Anakin couldn't hear. 

He poured more of himself into Ahsoka.

“Put your hands in the air!” A voice yells at him.

“No!” Anakin returned, his fury, sadness, and desperation evident in his response. If he removed his hands from her for even a second she would die, and he would rather go down with her than watch that happen.

“I said-“

“She needs a medic now!” He stands up with Ahsoka, allowing whatever clone was currently pointing a blaster at them to see her condition.

When the red armored trooper does he sucks in a small breath and lowers his blaster, and after what seems like a quick internal debate he signals to one of the LAATis that was hovering outside the broken window. 

“Take them to the temple, high speed!”

Anakin nods as a quick thanks and force jumps to the ship. Ahsoka doesn’t even twitch as she’s jostled around in the flight.

He can’t help but think that all of this was his fault. If only Anakin had seen the signs, maybe he would have been able to stop palpatine before it ever got this far. Before he had to actively wrestle death away from his sister for the second time in his life.

It felt oddly similar to the first time actually, the same light energy was coursing through his veins like fresh rain pouring into a river. Though on Mortis Anakin could slowly feel the life coming back to her. Now it felt like all he could do was keep it from slipping away, and by now could feel even his power to do that quickly weakening with overuse.

He didn't even want to think about what had become of Obi-Wan.

The LAATi slows to a stop and begins lowering down, signaling that they arrived at their destination. As soon as the blast door opened Anakin leaps out, not waiting for touchdown as he had no time. When he lands he immediately starts running for the Halls of Healing. The Jedi he passes on his way turn to look at him, their cheerful expressions fading to looks of horror at the sight of Ahsoka. 

It felt like he was carrying his mom across the desert all over again. The same anger, same hopelessness floods his head and he bites back tears.

Anakin doesn’t think he's ever sprinted this fast in his life.

The winding path of the temple stops as he arrives at his destination. One of the clones had contacted the healers while in transit so someone was now standing outside of a doorway with open arms. The togruta once again doesn’t even grunt as she's recklessly lifted from Anakin's arms and hurried into the healing room.

Anakin follows after them and watches as Ahsoka’s placed onto a medical cot surrounded by other healers. They make quick work on taking out the glass while one is left to begin the healing process. He goes to help but pauses when he feels a hand firmly grasp his shoulder. 

He turns to see the healer who stopped him “No Knight Skywalker, you shall wait outside.”

His anger increased tenfold. “That is my Padwan, I will not leave her side until I know she is ok!”

The healers frown “This is not up for you to decide, the healers will not be able to perform their best if someone is distracting them.”

“You can’t make me leave!” Anakin yells back, clenching his fists. He was far beyond the point of thinking rationally by now, between over exertion, fear, and anger it was a wonder he was still able to form a complete sentence. “You will not take her away from me again, nothing will make me leave this room.”

A sigh escapes the healer mouth and he snaps his fingers. Two temple guards enter and hurriedly make towards Anakin. He tries to escape but they grab his arms, easily overpowering him in his current state. 

“No, no, please! ” He yells but the guards don’t seem to care. They drag him out as he squirms and kicks like a child. Once outside they lock the door and let him go. 

“Ahsoka!” He yells and runs up, slamming his fist repeatedly on the door.” The healer's hand returns to his shoulder.

“You did everything you could for her,” he consoles, “Now let us do everything we can”. It was supposed to be comforting but Anakin still feels just as lost and helpless as before. He could feel her force signature fighting for its life in there and he wasn’t sure if it was going to pull through. He at least wanted to be in the room, to be able to face her when she died.

His knees gave out and he crumpled to the floor. Tears pour out of his eyes and he can feel his whole body shake and spasm as his lungs try desperately for air. Anakin hadn't felt this useless since his mom- and well, that story didn’t have a happy ending. What was the point of being the chosen one if he couldn’t even save the people he loved?

Sounds of rushing and shouting catch his attention from his internal crisis. Clones carrying a stretcher rush down the hall. As they get closer to him the presence on the stretcher becomes more clear.

Auburn hair catches his eyes and Anakin screams.

The 501st was in very high spirits returning from Mandalore. After they managed to capture Maul in the tunnels and Ahsoka ran off to gods knows wear, the clones had stayed behind to clear out the rest of Maul's forces and help with some of the cleanup. 

With Rex and Bo-Katan supervising it only took around two days for the major parts to be done. Of course there were still many little things leftover to do, but the republic didn’t really need to be here for that. A fact that Rex was eternally grateful for, as that means he can meet back up with the rest of the battalion and put his commander days far behind him. Captain was a perfectly suitable rank thank you very much, everyone else (Read: Kote) was just trying too hard. Hells he had been so busy with just the cleanup alone that he hadn't even been able to check his comms.

Well at least he’ll be able to relax soon. He watches the troopers load onto the resolute in clumps, not even bothering with formation as Rex has no real desire to enforce it. Mandalore was a resounding success. The siege was short, casualties were low, and morale was at an all time high with Ahsoka back. Rex himself was over the moon, reuniting with both Echo and Ahsoka in such a short time frame was nothing short of a miracle, and everything and more a soldier like him could ask for.

After taking a headcount to make sure everyone was on board, the bridge techs set a course for coruscant. Finally Rex could take a nap. After excusing himself from the bridge he promptly makes his way back to his quarters, shucking off his armor once inside and practically face planting on the bed. 

Before drifting away he figures he might finally check his comm to see if Ahsoka might have given him an update for… well whatever it is she was doing. 

Soka’ika: I’m not sure if I’ll make it out of this one. But if I don’t then I want you to know that you were by far the best thing to happen to me in this war. 

The republic couldn't have asked for better soldiers, nor I a better brother

I love you vod

A quick look at the chat showed that the message came from late yesterday night. He immediately tried to call her but was met with no response. Did this mean he was already too late- Was she already dead?

When Ahsoka was away, the only good part for Rex was knowing that she was away from the war and out of danger. When she came back his worry of him getting hurt returned as well, but it was at least satiated by the fact that he could be with her if anything were to happen. 

She could be dead right now and Rex could have no idea. 

There’s a knock at the door, and all he can muster in response was a shaky “Come in”.

Ridge enters, his face carefully crafted into the perfect neutral expression but Rex could still tell that whatever reason Ridge had to seek him out wasn’t a good one.

“Sir!” He says, looking like the picture of formality. He takes a shaky breath, “I regret to inform you that- that the chancellor is dead”. Ridge says and then quickly looks down, his face crumpling.

Rex didn’t know what he was expecting but that was certainly worse. The clones may not have particularly liked the chancellor but his death could only really mean one thing. The war was over and the separatists had won. The clones had failed their one purpose in life, and would be tossed out. After all, what use do you have for an army in peacetime, let alone a failed one.

He thinks back to Ahsoka and her message. Is that what she meant? Was she assigned to a protection detail for the chancellor?

As much as Rex didn't want to be true it would make sense, there was no question that she was skilled. The council must have seen her defeat of Maul and called her in, and Ahsoka is one of the most determined beings he’s met, so there's no chance she would have allowed her mission to fail if she’s still breathing. 

“Rex, are you ok?” Ridge asks, becoming concerned as Rex continues to not respond to the news, instead staring at the wall with an empty look on his face. 

His sister was dead and the rest of his brothers were next.

“I’m fine” he states because he is, he needs to be. Rex was a commander and along with all the war responsibilities, the job also came with a responsibility to his brothers. The responsibility to be the strong one, to stay calm and help the others through. He walked past Ridge and out of the room, any hopes of sleep long since forgotten. The troops in the hallway avoid them as they sense the distress he’s trying so hard to cover. When he enters the bridge the crew looks at him with sorrowful eyes. It’s obvious they had already gotten the news and were just waiting for Rex to inform the rest of the ship.

It doesn’t feel real as he relays the information to the rest of the ship.

It doesn’t feel real when he finally sees the glowing lights of Coruscant come into view.

It doesn’t feel real as he walks down the venator ramp and sees Cody standing there waiting for him.

That’s not right- the last he heard from his ori’vod the 212th was supposed to be stationed on Utapau for at least another tenday. 

Oh, General Kenobi must have been a part of it as well. At least Rex wouldn’t be alone in his loss anymore.

As he clears the distance and gets a better view of Cody he can more clearly make out his expression. His older face appeared pinched with a mix of something else that Rex couldn’t quite put his finger on, his posture was rigid, and his arms were crossed over his chest. To the public eye he was the same stoic commander as always, but to those who knew him it was an obvious tell that something was very wrong.

“Su cuy’gar Kote.” Rex says as he claps the other commander's forearm. He wants so desperately to do more, to cling to his older brother and sob his heart out like he was a cadet again. But right now people were watching, Rex could hold it together for a little longer at least.

“Su cuy’gar Rex’ika.” His voice is painfully strained and he can’t seem to look Rex in his eyes.

“Cody what’s going on.” He pleads. He can’t be left in the dark about this, he just can’t.

Cody sighs and reaches a hand up to rest on his temple, “I can’t- it’s too much to explain here. You need to come with me.”

They walked to the speeder dock at a brisk pace, the rest of the 501st abandoned to unload on their own. Abandoning his post very well might get him demoted but what does it really matter anymore, there was no way in the sith hells that the war would continue after this.

The path they were taking led straight to the Jedi temple. Rex knew where they were going as soon as the speeder took the first turn, due to having visited more than was strictly necessary for a captain. Cody knew the drive like the back of his hand, having gone just as much as Rex. His brother seemingly turns on a self autopilot during the drive, his eyes focused on the road but somehow also unfocused at the same time. 

Around halfway there he snapped out of whatever trance he had been in and spared a quick glance at Rex. Cody took a moment to consider his words before opening his mouth, “I’m not entirely sure what you have in mind right now, and I unfortunately don’t yet know the full truth of what actually happened-” They stop at a light and Cody fully turned to face him, “-but whatever it was, from what I’ve gathered it seems to be a net positive…”, he hesitates “Somehow”.

Based on all the evidence that Rex had gathered a positive outcome didn't make any real sense. Cody himself didn't really seem to fully believe what he had just said, but when they arrive at the temple and see the Jedi he’s grateful for his brother's warning. His mental state really seemed to be at one of his all time lows, only really being surpassed by the aftermath of Umbara and Fives’s death, and he fully expected this situation to surpass both. Right now his mind was trying to prepare itself for the inevitable blow of grief that will come once all of his suspicions are confirmed.

The Jedi on the other hand, honestly seemed to be having a party. Every single person the clones past had either a cheerful or relieved smile on their face. It was as if a heavy weight had been simultaneously lifted from all of their shoulders.

Rex doesn’t think he’s ever seen the Jedi this carefree before. Was this what they were like before the war? With the fighting coming to an end they can finally lay down their weapons, maybe they don’t even care who won and are just happy to be done with it no matter what. Too happy to even care about what might happen to the clones.

Cody led him down a hallway he had never been before. He hears a pathetic little whimper echo across the walls, it sounded like someone was desperately trying not to cry.

They turn the corner and he sees his general. The man is seated on the floor, his back against the wall. Skywalker’s head was in his hands and when Rex got a better look he can tell that he was shaking. It was far beyond disconcerting to see the supposed hero with no fear look this distraught.

Rex can feel all the blood rapidly drain from his face. He knew what to expect coming here but it’s another thing to see it be all but confirmed. Since first hearing the information he had done his best to bottle up his emotions and keep the appearance of being calm and controlled for his company.

Seeing Skywalker like this shattered that bottle along with whatever hope he hadn’t realized he had been holding onto.

He takes a large step about to run over to him but is stopped by a hand on his shoulder. “Be careful vod. He’s not in his right mind right now,” Cody warns.

Rex ignores it, shrugging the hand off and running over anyways, after all his sanity was abandoned as soon as he read Ahsoka’s message.

“General!” He calls, squatting down in front of him.

No response.

“Anakin” He says instead.

The man in question lifts his head up slightly. He looked so much younger in that moment. His face was scrunched up in anger but his skin was red with tears.

“What happened?” Rex doesn’t want to know, doesn’t want to hear true confirmation but he asked anyway.

Skywalker's face somehow scrunches up even more and he ducks away from Rex’s stare. He stays quiet for a second before giving him an answer.

“I- She- It’s my fault I should have known” His voice was hoarse and scratchy, it sounded like he had been screaming.

“Should have known what? Anakin what happened."  Rex resists the urge to grab him by the shoulders and shake him. He couldn’t take much more guessing, he needed to know.

“She’s dying,” he says simply.

Rex is a soldier, he's used to this. So he doesn’t scream, doesn’t cry, but his eyes go wide and wet and his mouth gasps like a fish out of water. 

Cody comes up behind him and puts a hand on his shoulder again, more gently this time, and drags him away from the Jedi. He then pulls Rex to his chest and squeezes. Wrapping his arms around his brother's torso, Rex allows himself a moment of weakness and melts into the gold painted chest plate. 

After a short while he pulls back, hoping to try and take his mind off of this and be able to regain control of his emotions, “How’s Kenobi doing?” His original intent was to ask a question that would shift the conversation to an unrelated topic, but the situation was too all consuming to ask about anything too far from Ahsoka.

“He’s stable, but that's about all that I know right now.” Cody says, “No one will let me know any details from the fight or even what his injuries are.” His brother was not one to outwardly show worry, you could usually only tell by reading his body language. Right now though, it was painted clear across his face.

Everything felt so confusing. He could walk down the hallway right now and come face to face with someone smiling like their life day had come early this year, while just down the hall the last heroes of the republic were dying. It just didn’t make any sense. Rex wishes that someone could give him a straight answer. He wants to know why Ahsoka had to die for something that every other Jedi clearly didn’t believe in. Why had they sent her, why had she agreed?

It felt like all Rex had been doing for the past few days was asking why.

Why was all a clone like him could have. Real answers were only given to those who were born.

So with nothing better to do but cry, Rex walks back over to Anakin and sits down beside him. Finally letting the tears that had been threatening him for days flow, as he mourns what seems like the inevitable loss of yet another sibling, and seemingly many many more to come.

*----*

Rex’s eyes feel heavy as he opens them. He realizes that he must have unintentionally cried himself to sleep. Anakin was no longer beside him, having disappeared to gods know where, and a green twi’lek is shaking his shoulders.

When she notices he’s awake she speaks, “Knight Skywalker asked me to wake you when Miss Tano was out of the operation.” 

Rex does nothing but nod to respond, not trusting his voice to not crack. 

“Don’t fret trooper. By some miracle your friend was able to survive.” She says and a small smile appears on her face.

He gasps. That had not by any means been the news he was expecting to hear. “Please can I see her?” He ask’s, expecting to be denied or unanswered like so many times before.

“Of course, follow me.”

Rex does as she says and stands up to follow her through the door he had been sleeping beside. The interior of the room she leads him to in sparse, save for a medical cot and equipment moved off to the side and a bacta tank positioned dead against the center of the far wall. 

Inside of it hovers his little sister, scarred and cut but alive. He slowly walks closer, not fully believing it to be real. He might still be dreaming after all, but when he gets closer it’s obvious he’s not. There was no way he could imagine all these stitches and new scars. Ahsoka's entire body was covered in them. If Rex had to make a guess then he would think that they were from shattered glass. 

What drew his eyes the most though was the big ugly red spot on the right of her abdomen. It had clearly been cauterized, but was too big to be a blaster bolt and too deep to be from a fire related cause. A lightsaber was the only real weapon that could have caused this. The fact that she survived was even more incredible if she had taken a lightsaber to the gut.

The nurse picks up on Rex’s unasked question and pipes up, “We are not quite sure how she survived. With her injuries she shouldn’t have even been able to open her eyes, let alone stand up and behead a man.”

For the first time since he opened that message Rex smiles. That's his little sister alright.

“Even so she should have succumbed to her injuries shortly after.” She turns to Rex, “The fact that she’s still here is due to nothing but the will of the force.”

The will of the force huh. It was difficult for clones to understand it, they often just went along with whatever crazy kark their Jedi did, choking it up to magic and not looking deeper. Right now though Rex was thankful for it, even though he wasn’t entirely sure what it was.

He walks up to the tank. With Ahsoka being suspended in the bacta she's perfectly eye level with him. Rex takes off his glove and rests it against the glass, hoping that the force will somehow let her know that he was here with her, and that no matter what happens he won’t leave. 

The somber calm of the healing hall was interrupted by a loud blue asteromech hurtling down the hallway at top speed. Anakin knew before even seeing it that this could be no one other than his crazy ass droid. Cody turns to him with an unamused look on his face. So he stands up from where he had been at Obi-Wan's side and goes to see what R2 wanted from him.

Anakin opens the door to the hall and is immediately greeted by a metal leg to the shins.

“Hey what was that for!” He was really not in the mood for the astromechs usual antics.

“ Why-you-here. Wife-birth-kids-now!”

Oh shit. He needed to go, he needed to be there but - his eyes went to the door Ahsoka was behind. He can't just leave her.

No matter what happens he needs to be by her side.

R2 does not know about his delma and wonders what on earth is taking the man so long, “ Need-go-now! Wife-birth-kids!” He beeps and slams into Anakin's legs again.

He kicks the droid back. “It’s not that simple! I can’t just leave her!” Ahsoka’s presence had yet to even out in the force meaning her survival is still unclear. If these are really her last hours then she doesn’t deserve to be alone for them. Not after her sacrifice.

The astromech lets out a sad beep, clearly just figuring out what had become of his friend.

Anakin sighs, “I know R2. I just- how am I supposed to choose between being there for my child’s birth and my sister's death.” Saying it out loud and bluntly like that hurt, and just about sent him into another round of tears.

“ No-you-need-go. Rex-here. He-stay-Ahsoka.”

Leave it to a droid to think rationally even in the worst scenarios. As much as he hated to admit it R2 was right, Ahsoka was loved and had many other brothers to look after her and possibly see her to the end, his child will hopefully only ever have one father. Add on that with the fact that he couldn’t leave Padme alone for the birth. Anakin takes a shaky breath, it was the right decision he knew but it was still just so painful to leave.

Rex lets out a grunt in his sleep. Anakin walks over to him and crouches down, overcome by emotions he hugs his captain. Rex doesn't so much as stir in his sleep, most likely due to his extreme exhaustion but Anakin talks to him anyway.

“Please look after her, and if this is the end tell her I love her for me.”

The droid behind him makes a noise, trying to remind Anakin that they really don’t have all day. He listens and stands up again following the astrometric to the shuttle.

*----*

Two sets of bright blue eyes blink up at him, their beautiful, his two beautiful babies. Anakin had suggested Leia as a name back when they thought it was going to be only one girl, and Padme had been very insistent on Luke when the couple discovered they would be having a boy as well. 

Anakin was sure he had never been happier in his life. Between the birth of his kids and Ahsoka’s presence in the force miraculously stabling out he was sure that some god out there must be looking down on him.

It had been around 2 standard weeks since the duel. Padme was on maternity leave and he was taking an extended break from the order. They got to spend every day with each other and the twins. It was stressful and tiring but nothing had ever felt more right. When one of them looked into his eyes Anakin felt like every hardship in his life had been worth it. Because it brought him to this exact moment. A moment he wouldn’t trade for the galaxy, a moment that was almost deprived from him, only prevented by the selfless actions of a very special girl. The only thing truly missing from this perfect picture.

*----*

He was both over the moon and extremely nervous the first time he visited Ahsoka. Desire to see her clashed with the fear of seeing the true damage. Still, he marched himself down the temple hallways and through the same door he had cried on just weeks earlier.

When he walked into the room Anakin modestly saw her. She was suspended in bacta and absolutely covered in scars from the glass, looking both pale and sickly, but alive. And that was all he could really ask for right now. He noticed Rex was seated in a chair in front of the tank, watching over the girl inside. Anakin smiled as warmth seemed to flood his mind. It was good to know Rex was looking after her in his absence.

He walks up to the clone. Rex notices Anakin out of the corner of his eye and gives him a simple nod, not even turning away for Ahsoka, as if he believed that she would drop dead the moment he took his eyes off of her. 

“How is she?” Anakin asks.

Rex sighs, “During the fight she sustained a major concussion, multiple electricity burns, severe blood loss due to the window shards, melted organs, and two broken ribs.” The way he lists off her injuries is somewhat akin to how he used to list off supply lists back in the war. This was probably not the first or even the third time he’s had to tell someone.

“I still can’t believe she’s alive” He comments. During the aftermath of the fight he had been so sure that this was it for Ahsoka, and hearing her full list of injuries solidified the belief that he wasn’t overreacting.

“The healers can’t either, they said it was because of the will of the force itself.”

That’s one way to put it. Right now it feels like there’s a bubble around Ahsoka force presence. Burning and green, keeping Anakin from being able to fully feel her. Normally he would be beyond worried about a fact like that, but since it might be the reason Ahsoka’s still alive he can give it a pass for now.

“I don’t really care how it happened, I’m just glad she’s here”. He probably would have gone to Palpatine's grave and figured out how to kill the man a second time if she wasn’t.

Rex hums in agreement, still not taking his eyes off of the togruta. How long had he been here, had he ever left her side?

“How long have you been with her for?” Anakin voiced his thoughts.

“Ever since they moved her to the tank, I’ve only ever left for the fresher and to grab a ration bar.” Rex replies, and something flashes in his eyes “I can’t lose anyone else.” He chokes out, so quietly that it was a wonder Anakin even heard.

Rex has lost so much in the war, all the clones have. He might be one of the Jedi who most understands what it’s like to be a clone, due to his unfortunate upbringing. So he doesn’t try and tell Rex to take a break, because he knows if someone had told that to him he would have closed their vocal cords via the force. A more selfish part of Anakin wanted to make sure that someone was with Ahsoka at all times, if he didn’t have two new babies to take care of his ass would be sat down in a chair right next to his old captain.

“You won’t” He assures Rex, “She’s made it this far, she’s strong enough to make it the rest one the way.”

Rex takes a deep breath, “Hells I hope so.”

And with that Anakin claps him on the shoulder and walks out. Because as much as he wishes he could stay longer, Padme has work and those kids aren't gonna look after themselves.

*----*

Getting his wife out the door had never been difficult in the past. Her rigorous schedules and countless handmaidens always kept her both organized and on time. But two babies really threw a wrench into that lifestyle. So here she was, elaborate dress not fully zipped up, one shoe missing, and makeup half done zipping around the apartment yelling and grumbling as she attempted to find her missing necklace. (She had tones of other ones but she needed this one specifically for some reason- must be a Naboo thing)

In Anakin's humble opinion she had never looked this good in her life. Objectively that wasn't true, as too an outsider she looked like a frantic quite literally half put together mess, but in all honesty he’s never felt this in love before. 

Because between the crying baby, the bright toys on the floor, and the throw up on his shit –they just found out that Luke has a slight bantha milk intolerance– it felt like all of his dreams of being a true husband to this woman were coming true, mess and all.

“Stop standing there and help me look! I can’t be late to my first Senate meeting back!”

Anakin did as he was told without any protest. With Luke crying in one arm and Leia somehow sleeping soundly in the other he hurrys around the home trying to check every nook and cranny that Padme might have missed in her frantic state.

After much more noise and rush she finds it, finishes getting ready and is out the door. Personally, Anakin doesn’t believe she should be going back to work this soon –he sure as hell wasn’t– but Padme insists that it's important. Something about not having a chancellor, the end of a war, and democracy coming dangerously close to being undermined apparently managed to create a perfect storm of work, work that will not wait for the standard eight months of maternity leave.

Still, Luke and Leia have two parents for a reason, and Anakin was doing a perfectly good job at taking care of them. Thank you very much. Besides, it wasn't like he was alone either. He has R2 after all, and just yesterday Obi-Wan had stopped by to help out (Read: to spoil his grand kids while Anakin does all the hard work). Seeing his old master with the twins honestly gave Anakin mixed feelings, on one hand he was happy to see them bonding, and too truly see just how much his old master loved both his children and him. But It’s a shame he hadn’t come to his senses and realized that he could have had this earlier. Maybe then Obi-Wan would have been able to hold the babies with both arms, instead of matching one flesh one metal with Anakin.

At least he laughed when Anakin joked about them combining to make one full set. 

Obi-Wan's been a great help but is still in recovery, both from the toll war took on his old man bones and the electric shock. So the healers had prescribed him another rest day, which means no help with the babies. Which is fine because Anakin's original plan for the day could be done with them.

Honestly it's about time that they should be done with them.

So not too long after Padme rushes out the door Anakin follows suit, washing the throw up off his clothes, loading up the babies in their cute little booster seats and heading yet again towards the Jedi temple. Walking down the now all too familiar path to the halls of healing and into Ahsoka’s room.

Rex isn’t there this time, likely due to one of his brothers forcefully dragging him out for fresh air. It had been over two mounths and they were starting to get genuinely worried for the man.

His empty chair is still there though so Anakin takes it. He does nothing but sit in silence for a while. The strange energy surrounding Ahsoka must have intrigued the twins so they were shockingly quiet as well. It was probably another 30 minutes before Anakin said anything.

“Luke, Leia,” They both turn their heads to him at the sound of their names. He stands up and takes a step closer to the tank.”I’d like you to meet your aunt Ahsoka.” He nods his head in the direction of the glass, and the babies in his arms follow. “She’s- she's the reason I can stand here with you today-” He’s getting choked up. “I owe her my life. The whole galaxy does really.”

Luke reaches out one of his little hands towards the girl in front of him. “So-ka,” he stammers out. His first word. Whatever tears Anakin had been trying to hold back came rushing out. Leia gives her brother the closest a babie can come to a glare. “Aunt Ahsoka” She says, clearly not wanting to be outdone. His cry turns into more of a laugh.

Another tiny hand reaches out and swings around widely towards Ahsoka. Anakin smiles as he shifts close enough for Luke to put one of his baby hands onto the glass of her tank.

For the first time in Anakin's life he feels complete. No puzzle peace missing. How just a month ago he could be led to believe that he could never have this is beyond him. 

The only thing left that was needed to make this a true paradise was Ahsoka waking up. But he truly believed that would be soon. 

“I can’t wait for her to meet you both.”

*----*

“How could they do this to her!”

“I know Ani I know! I'm trying everything I can, I promise!”

“How could they, after everything she’s done after everything she’s lost-”

“The Senate doesn’t see it like that and you know it.”

“If they can’t see the clear evidence that's in front of them then maybe they should shove their pompous rich bullshit opinions up their pompous rich ass-”

“ Ani the children !” Padme scolds him. She had just returned from a senate meet looking tried and defeated. This was a common occurrence due to many meetings running long nowadays. The republic seemed to be going through a much needed overhaul over the past few months. New peace treaties had been signed with what remained of the separatist leadership, allowing them to be independent planets. A clone rights bill as well as a clone rehabilitation act had been proposed by former Commander Fox, and was currently gaining more traction, in part due to Padme’s tireless efforts. But the new chancellor had not been elected yet, majorly due to the fear of what almost was.

Unfortunately many Senators are upset by this decision. Worried about what being without a chancellor would say about the strength and stability of the republic. Many still side with Palpatine.

Many believe that Palpatine was fully within his rights, many believe that allowing the separatist to remain is a show of weakness and that the former chancellor would have never allowed it. Many believe that Ahsoka should be hit with the full force of the law for ending the man.

Many were very very wrong.

Padme had done everything she could to try and push back against this idea, pointing out the obvious fact of Palpatine being a sith, and evil but the senate wanted blood. She had told Anakin about the situation immediately after getting home, and after putting the twins to bed she had pulled out a stack of data pads, ruthlessly trying everything she could to try and find out what Palpatine's true plan could have been. To provide cold hard evidence that the man could not possibly be defended and Ahsoka could not possibly be blamed.

Anakin paced, and when that didn’t work he did kata’s, and when that didn’t work he tried verbally venting his frustrations.

“The children are asleep. Who’s gonna hear me?”

“I will,” She responds, finally looking up from her pad for the first time in this conversation. “If you hadn’t noticed I'm trying to concentrate here, so please Anakin for the love of the gods shut the kriff up.”

When Padme cursed it was because she was either desperate, or serious. Right now she’s both. Anakin took that as his cue to leave.

His pent up energy, and emotions weren't going anywhere though and his new therapist had said that he should try to find better outlets for his anger.

Going to see Ahsoka was that outlet for him, at least right now. He would go there when he needed to sort out his thoughts, when he needed a break from the babies, when he wanted to pretend she was still capable of responding to him. Sometimes Obi-Wan would come with him, sometimes Rex. He’s brought the twins and Padme more than a few times as well. 

But right now it was just himself. It was just him rambling to the tank, hoping that she could somehow hear him through the glass and goo. 

He talked to her about how much the twins had grown, he talked to her about his plan to leave the order, and he talked to her about how he almost set their fancy kitchen on fire trying to cook dinner tonight. He didn’t look up, instead just stared at his hands and tried to pretend she was just nodding along, even though if she were really awake she would have butted in multiple times to make fun of him, or ask questions, or, or…

Gods above Anakin wasn’t sure how much longer he could take this for. He wanted her back for real, wanted to be able to laugh and joke with her, wanted to see her adapt to peace time after her whole childhood was consumed by war. It wasn’t fair. She saved the world and doesn’t even get to live in it, doesn’t even get to be respected for what she did because some snot nosed power hungry–

And now Anakin was right back where he started. He takes a deep breath and stands up. It’s about time that he heads back anyway, a full nights rest is often required for keeping up with the twins. Staying here longer would only cause him to spiral more and that wouldn’t do himself or Ahsoka any good.

On his way out Anakin bumps into someone. His mind had been clouded by his emotions so he hadn’t sensed them coming and did not know who it was until he looked down slightly. 

Tarkin. Not really who he was expecting.

“Captain, what are you doing here?” He asked. After all it was no secret that the man wasn’t the biggest fan of Ahsoka, and he doubted that she would be very happy to know that Tarkin had visited her in her comatose state.

“I am here under senatorial business.” He replies without missing a beat, “I have been instructed to supervise the moving of Ahsoka Tano to a more… Secure location.”

“What! Why?” Anger and protectiveness start to pool in Anakin's gut.

“If you do not know already, the senate is looking at pressing charges against young miss Tano. For assassinating the chancellor of course.”

“You mean the sith lord controlling our government! She saved the galaxy, the least you could do is be grateful.”

“No I actually I shall not. She has completely undermined democracy and given power to our adversaries. I have no reason to be grateful.” His posh Corasanti accent is like a nail on a chalkboard to Anakin's ears.

“She saved our democracy!”

Tarkin sighed, “You see this is exactly why I am here. Jedi like yourself obviously can't understand the complexities of this all. They're too clouded by their label of sith ” He says the word like it means nothing. “They do not see that Tano is a criminal, and one that needs to be punished to the highest extent at that. When the verdict comes that she must be put to death for her crimes the senate simply cannot trust the jedi to hand her over and allow us to do it. That is why we are taking her now, we will have an easier, more streamlined experience when the time comes.” 

When he said, not if . Anakin's blood boils over. A dark feeling inside him forces its way back up and he can feel the force around him burning. He reaches out with it and grabs ahold of Tarkin's neck, lifting him off the ground and causing his feet to dangle helplessly in the air.

“You will not get your hands on her.”

Tarkin can only respond with a strangled choke.

“If you even step foot in there, the Jedi will be the least of your problems. I will personally hunt you down and make sure that your untimely death is not an if but a when .” He growls out and then drops Tarkin.

The man unceremoniously scrambles back to his feet and dusts himself off, before turning around and speedwalking away in fear without giving so much as a glance back in Anakin's direction. Good. Tarkin is nothing if not a selfish asshole so a direct threat to his life should be enough to shut him up for at least long enough for Padme to compile evidence against the former chancellor.

The darkness leaves him as he glances back to Ahsoka’s room. He hoped she hadn’t felt that. Shame replaces the darkness as Anakin realizes what he had done. Slipping back into his old tendencies and letting his anger control him yet again. Months of work felt like they had crumpled, leaving him the scared angry man who desperately wanted the rank of master.

But while in the past when he felt these emotions he would go to Palpatine, now he set out for His and Obi-Wan's old shared room. Because he knew now that his old master would be there for him, through the good, bad, and the ugly.

*----*

It had been six months. 

Six months since Ahsoka had cheated death and was put on life support.

Six months that seemed to pass both too quickly and too slowly at the same time.

The Bad batch had been able to find his former CMO Kix, who was able to reveal the truth about the inhibitor chips Fives had referred too, and that combined with the old trade federation deals Padme had managed to unearth had been enough proof to show that Palpatine had been abusing his power and more than deserved his fate both legally and morally. Hence also freeing Ahsoka from any charges that might have come her way.

It had been long enough since then that every single clone was officially declared chip free, and an official citizen of the republic. Many still decided to stay in the GAR or work with the Jedi. Former Commanders Wolffe and Bly are working as companions to their respective Jedi, (Read: A new job that the order had created to try and give the clones more places to go) Kix was now an assistant in the halls of healing, and Cody was a temple guard. Others were living it up as a civilian, discovering their true passions in life. (He gets takeout from Gregor's new sandwich place like every other day)

Rex… well everyone knew what he wanted to be. But no one had the heart to tell him that it wasn’t going to happen, that the chances of her waking up were getting slimmer and slimmer by the day. So while all his brothers went out and got jobs, got settled in he stayed close. Helping out in bits and places around the temple but never too far. Cody offered him a job guard with him but Rex declined, claiming he didn’t want the responsibility of a real job yet.

Everyone was worried for him. He had to realize eventually, this couldn’t be the rest of his life. He couldn’t continue to hover over a girl who was only truly alive in the medical sense. 

Rex was there when Anakin walked in. This was far from unusual. Normally they would make simple small talk, Rex would ask about the twins, Anakin would gush about them for a while and invite Rex over for dinner, Rex would decline. A simple routine. He opens his mouth to say a simple hello but for the first time the other man speaks first.

“She’s– never gonna wake up”

Oh. Well at least he knows. It had been rough for Anakin too when the realization fully sunk in. There had been tears and screams and flying objects, so it surprises him how quiet and calm Rex seems about it.

“The doctor told me this morning, they mentioned something about pulling the plug.” Rex’s voice breaks.

Oh.

“Rex I’m- so so sorry-”

“Its not your fault. It's that damn war. I-I just thought that once it was over it could finally stop taking stuff from me.” He gives a dry chuckle, "Guess I was wrong.”

Anakin walks over to the clone and hugs him. Not a light wrap or a side hug, a full on bear trap squeezing the life out of him.

“She would want you to move on” He says into Rex’s shoulder.

He can feel the cold sting of tears seep into his shirt.

*----*

It’s a few weeks later the next time Anakin visits. But this time he comes with a cake. It's truly nothing fancy, just something he was able to whip up in his spare time. Baking had become somewhat of a hobby for him after leaving the order. Turns out beating a whisk and needing dough can be a really good outlet for his anger issues. The twins had even helped ice it. Well they smear some of the icing around with their (washed) hands.

Obi-Wan had met him at the entrance to the temple while Rex met him inside the room. More people had wanted to come but they elected to have a smaller crowd so as to not disturb the peace of the healing hall. 

He lit the 2 candles on the cake with a lighter Rex had given to him. 

The big 1 and 8 spark to life.

“Happy life day snips.”

He blows out the candles.

Portal after portal flickers past her as Ahsoka runs. She wants to slow down, to give into her curiosity and see what they lead to but she can't. That thing will catch up.

So she runs. She runs faster and longer than she has in her entire life. Through this strange world of stars and pathways, past portals of red lightsabers and shiny white armor. Ahsoka just keeps running. To where she does not know, just away from that . Away from its shiny white hair, away from its void black eyes, and away from the haunting smile that seems to have ripped its face in two.

Through years of war, throughout countless battles, throughout even death itself Ahsoka has never been more afraid than she is now.

Before the worst thing that could happen was death. She’s not sure if that's true anymore.

The Jedi taught that once someone died, their spirit would become a part of the cosmic force and connect the galaxy. Right now that sounded like a load of bullshit to Ahsoka. That or she just got the short end of the stick when it comes to the afterlife. 

She's not entirely sure how long she’s been running for. Time seems to have no real meaning here. The only things keeping her grounded are the sounds of her feet hitting the path, the burning fire in her chest,  and whatever noises she can hear from the portals she passes by. She usually can’t pick up much though, only able to understand a word or two before being out of range again.

“Your my only hope”

Past another portal.

“ I hate you! ”

Another.

“Then you will die”

And another.

They're all little moments, not really enough to piece anything together. Other than the fact that something is very wrong. Some of the voices are recognizable to Ahsoka, often she’ll hear Anakin- or some version of him at least. Other voices she doesn’t know the owner of but have begun to recognize after hearing them enough. Occasionally she’ll also hear herself.

“Then I will avenge his death ”

Like that one there. Ahsoka’s pretty sure she's never avenged anyone's death before so she's since concluded that these show the future. The only issue with that conclusion is that she’s heard Palpatine's voice more than a few times. Which would not make any sense because she killed that bitch.

She sliced off his head and then dyed along with him. 

Probably?

Maker this whole thing was both terrifying and confusing. After succumbing to her definitely fatal injuries she woke up here, saw the monster, and started running. Her injuries had still appeared visually on her body, but it was as if someone had halted them in time. They were still immensely painful, sure, but they didn’t get any worse and didn’t hinder her ability to run. Ahsoka thinks that whatever is causing this is probably also what helped her keep up her stamina for this long, because even with the force she was never able to sprint for what must be days on end like this.

It has to have something to do with the fire. That's what allowed her to push past her injuries in the fight, it must be doing the same for her here. The question Ahsoka had was if it could do more. 

More than just help her run. Run for what’s somehow beginning to feel like years.

It was the only idea she’s had about how to get out of what might be an eternity of this. Fighting the thing was out of the question, and who knows what she might do to the timeline if she jumps through one of the portals, but maybe she can figure out what the fire is and possibly do something with it. Her plan hadn’t really made it farther than figuring out how to use and or talk to the fire and dont double die while trying.

She throws a quick glance behind her as she runs, yep it's still there. The important fact though is that it hasn't gained any ground. Ahsoka decides now is as good a time as any and plunges herself into the best meditative state she can muster. Moving meditation was always her preferred form so it's not as difficult as one might initially believe.

She manages to push away her external distractions and reach deep within herself. The fire- she can feel, not in the physical sense. It feels almost like a force signature, like it's alive. Alive and oddly familiar.

“ Ahsoka” A voice sounds through her soul.

“ Can you help me?” She thinks in a desperate plea.

“ You need to stop running”

“What? But then she’ll catch me!”

“I will protect you, but I can’t do that while also sustaining your movements”

If she’s not moving then she’ll get caught. What’s to say that’s not what the fire wants. What’s to say the fire isn’t just a manifestation of the creature behind her. 

“Why should I trust you?”

“Because I am you, ever since my lifeforce was transferred to you we have slowly started to merge. It is our nature to want what's best for others, and right now that means you being with them.”

Something about it makes Ahsoka want to believe. She does as the voice says and stops in her tracks, turning around to face her fate dead on. The thing grows closer and closer to her, its unproportionate limbs clambering on the ground and it makes its way towards her. Right as it would have finally made contact a ball of green fire erupts from the girl's feet, encasing her in a ball of flames and scalding the monster. Then the ball begins to shrink, molding around her body and tickling her skin. It doesn’t hurt like she thought it would. Instead the fire feels rejuvenating, like a cold canteen of water after a long, long run.

“ I will take you home for now, but know that you must soon return if you wish to protect your world”

Ahsoka opens her eyes and is hit with the sting of bacta.