The Unchronicled Adventures Of Ahsoka Tano, Book Ten

Chapter One Hundred And Nine: A Long-Awaited Meeting

AHSOKA TANO

Vader whirled, and for a second, Ahsoka gave in and let herself believe the recognition that shone briefly in his aura before being hidden away again was that of a warrior to his friend and not to his enemy.

Master and apprentice were silent for a long moment, hoping, in their own separate ways, to suppress their shared history as it came rushing to meet them through their bond. Finally, Vader said, "It was foretold that you would be here. Our long-awaited meeting had come at last."

"I'm glad I gave you something to look forward to."

It was something the Ahsoka he had once known would have said, spoken with the same inflection as that slight, smiling girl who had been his Padawan and had confronted more dangers by his side in two years than most people did their entire lives.

Vader's lightsaber disappeared back into its hilt – so he wanted to talk, then. "We need not be adversaries. The Emperor will show you mercy if you tell me where the remaining Jedi can be found."

"There are no other Jedi. You and your Inquisitors have seen to that."

It wasn't a total lie. There were very few Jedi in the New Jedi Order who had lived in the time of the Republic. They were mostly the new. And over the past ten years, they had grown into something far beyond what the original Jedi had been, so much so that Ahsoka wasn't even sure anymore if they could be considered Jedi – not in the traditional sense, anyways.

As far as the Jedi who had lived in the Temple on Coruscant before Order 66, there were only sixteen she knew of... no. Eighteen.

No. Sixteen. Master Yoda and Obi-Wan were dead... Weren't they?

The peculiar but foreboding feeling that pieces of her mind were chipping away to reveal something else beneath had worsened. Almost nothing made sense anymore... save the knowledge that she was here now for a reason.

Vader didn't seem to believe her little half-truth, and instead turned pointedly towards Ezra, who was still frozen in place beside him. "Perhaps this... child will confess what you will not."

I can't let the New Jedi Order fall... but I know Kanan would never forgive me if I put that above his Padawan. I have to gamble if I want to keep them both safe.

After all, she knew exactly how cruel Vader was. He had given the orders to kill many of her friends, and killed ruthlessly many times himself himself. But the way she had him advancing towards Ezra, the intent to destroy him totally and without mercy if he did not get his way tainting the Force around him, suddenly made it so much more real.

And slowly but surely, in the face of such evil, she was beginning to feel the illusion that Anakin was down there somewhere fade away.

"I was beginning to believe I knew who you were, behind that mask... But it's impossible. My Master could never be as vile as you," Ahsoka spat.

"Anakin Skywalker was weak," Vader professed. "I destroyed him."

This was the moment, the point when everything collided. Vision, reality and unreality were moving together faster than she could hope to sort through them. Even as her heart tightened in sorrow and tears burned at the corners of her eyes, she knew now was the time she had to make her choice. She could throw everything she had into a last ditch effort to save Anakin, or she could do everything in her power to destroy the man so evil he was hardly human that had taken his place.

Do you know... what I have become? the image of Anakin from the Jedi Temple on Lothal whispered to her from the depths of memory.

Yes, she thought to it. Yes, I think I finally do – he has become what he has become. There is no changing it. He is the person I hate and love in equal measure. He walked away from everything as I once did, and now our places are reversed: it's up to me to remember who he once was and carry on in his memory.

Reminding herself that there would be time to grieve later, she stilled her trembling bottom lip and said, "Then I will avenge his death."

The boldness and conviction of her statement seemed to intrigue Vader. His voice was as low and controlled as ever, but now, there was a probing undercurrent to it that meant Ahsoka had caught him off-guard. "Revenge is not the Jedi way."

"I am no Jedi." In her head, she finished, I am so much more.

I am the one left, and didn't come back in time to save everyone. I am the one who fights for justice in a galaxy where the unjust have all the power. I am the one who chased impossible dreams and made them come true, for I am the one who made sure the Jedi ways would live on when all odds were against it.

I am the one who chose love over duty, and suffered and prospered by it in equal measure. I am the one who married Lux Bonteri, and the one who brought Aeja, and Aluxso and Enarion, and little Anakin into this galaxy. I am the one who lost a Master and a first apprentice to the Dark Side, and a second and a sister and so many others to its infernal machinations.

She took a deep breath and summoned her lightsabers to her hands, igniting the blades and falling into a ready position.

For a moment, she let their cool white glow and the simple song of the crystals within them wash over her and remind her of her purpose. Even as Vader raised his own crimson saber and stood to face her, she was certain the fact she had to be brave for Ezra, for Kanan, for her family back home, was enough to carry her.

Then, she swung her blades out and broke into a run towards him.

I am the Fulcrum – mother, sister, commander, leader. I am the balance between Light and Dark. And when one upsets the fulcrum, the balance of all things, the consequences are inevitably dire.

How could I allow anything less for the one who murdered my brother and took his place?

*And so the showdown between Master and apprentice begins. But as much as Ahsoka wishes it was, this is no training round between friends -- this is a battle that could very well claim her life. Who will finally triumph in the fight that we have never before seen resolved? Is Ahsoka truly bound as tightly to her fate as she believes herself to be, or might someone be about to intervene? How might Ezra, Kanan, Lux and the other people she cares about tie into it? You'll find out in the next thrilling chapter of The Unchronicled Adventures Of Ahsoka Tano! 

Yeah, in retrospect, I'm really glad I didn't finish that fifth chapter and post it; the cliffhanger and no chapter to conclude it for two weeks would have killed people. SEE I CAN BE NICE... sometimes... okay not in this book but still

I took great satisfaction in finally answering the 'Do you know what I have become' question. While it was probably intended to be rhetorical or answered simply with 'Vader', making things more complicated as a writer means getting more life out of them. Resolving things quickly in my writing is often boring for me, as you can probably tell by my overly long fanfics XD

And ooooh, Ahsoka is finally beginning to make sense of her true past, even if she hasn't realized it yet... I bet when she finally does, it's going to be explosive. And hopefully, she'll remember what really happened to Anakin before it's too late.

Huh. "Before it's too late." I've used that phrase or some variation on it like ten times in the last few chapters... I need to find something else to substitute, it's getting old...

Anyways, tomorrow morning I rise with the sun (kill me now) and will be leaving bright and early for my yearly pilgrimage to the Land of No Wifi. I'll be back for the weekend of the 5th, where I will attempt to get the last eight chapters of this book finished. But until then...

Discover your true destiny is not what you first thought and may the Force be with you,

Sharron