The Unchronicled Adventures Of Ahsoka Tano, Book Ten

Chapter One Hundred And Eight: Time To Stop Running

AHSOKA TANO

Ahsoka couldn't get up the steps fast enough. Her only thought was to get to Ezra, and to accomplish the mission Kanan had given her. Perhaps by succeeding in it now, she would be able to start making right of herself after the way she had let him down; the way she had let his brother and father down.

Kanan was blind, and Ahsoka was certain with the way he carried himself, even without the Force to check for sure, that it was permanent...

And there was no one to blame for it but herself. He had had a vital part of him taken away because she had been too slow to react. That wasn't the kind of thing that could be forgiven easily, or maybe even at all. But, as she had had to tell herself quite often lately, she could only sit tight and hope for the best.

Besides, if Ezra had truly activated the Sith Temple and unlocked the nefarious powers Maul claimed it possessed, then there wasn't so much as a single second to waste.

Ahsoka blinked in surprise as the light of day suddenly broke through the star-speckled ceiling to greet her. For a moment, she thought it was just because it had buckled under the force of the energy discharge. But she soon realized it was no coincidence as she felt an aura as dark as the sunlight was brilliant pass through the new gap in the ceiling.

His aura.

And it very nearly brought tears to her eyes.

In a way, his presence in the Force was as familiar to her as her own, and yet at the same time it was as unrecognizable as a complete stranger's. Elements of the Anakin she had known were still there – his fierce loyalty, his military cunning, his unshakable confidence – but they had been reshaped to fit a totally different person. Now, instead of kindness there was cruelty; instead of compassion there was an emptiness of feeling; instead of love there was unfathomable hatred.

Anakin... oh, Anakin... He had been swallowed up by a man in a mask, the very sight of which that would have been able to make her blood run cold even if she hadn't know what horrible, burning darkness lay just behind it.

But despite that, the bond they had once had flickered to life again, and Ahsoka was able to see everything he was seeing; feel every move of his lightsaber as though its hilt rested in her very own hand.

"I don't fear you." Ezra.

"Then you will die braver than most."

She wondered for a moment why changing allegiances and a long history of painful memories hadn't broken their connection, or why the sands of time had failed to wear it away completely. But soon, she realized the answer was as obvious as anything: that stranger was her SkyGuy.

Or at least he had once been. And as futile as it was, she still clung to the idea that somewhere deep down, he was still the same man she had known and loved with a loyalty that knew no bounds. And with a sense desperation as powerful as that to drive her, there would be no breaking the ties between them until one of them – or both – was dead.

But if Anakin was truly gone...

And that was when Ahsoka realized that in some limited, narrow-minded way, Maul had been right when he had accused her of running. That was all she did, and all she had ever done. She ran until she found someone she could hide behind; someone who could shield her from her past when it began to catch up to her.

She had run away from her problems in the Jedi Order instead of staying to resolve them, and hadn't stopped until she had found Lux to hide behind. Then, she had run from Anakin and Order 66 until she had found some notion of a purpose.

Her every victory and defeat repeated the same pattern over and over again: Kaylira to Kaya Ti, Kaya Ti to her children... anything she could use as a front.

Ahsoka sheathed her blades, falling down to one knee on the cool stone steps. Now, she was beginning to see that the pattern was simply repeating again, and that this time, she was running from the idea of Anakin being gone.

You abandoned me... you failed me...

But perhaps it was time to be brave and face the facts. Anakin was no more; he hadn't been anything but for over fifteen years.

Perhaps it was finally time to stop running.

She knew that fate had finally caught up with her; there was nothing she could do to stop it now. This was the meeting point between a thousand different fragments of dreams and warped realities, and she had no choice but to see them through to their end, no matter where it lead.

It came to her then as though through the mists of a daydream that she had reached the top of the steps and passed into the enormous chamber at the summit of the Temple. She must have started running again some time ago without realizing it as her body made the decision by itself to act while her mind was still deliberating.

"Perhaps I was wrong." His tone was almost thoughtful.

She took in the sight of Ezra cowering in Vader's shadow, his lightsaber in pieces on the ground beside him, with a cool eye. As the Sith Lord raised his blade to strike, she decided it was time to step in, and dropped her battle shields just enough to allow him to sense it was truly her.

And when she spoke, she was surprised by how calm and full and assured her voice was. Some terrible mix of anger, love and hope that she had a feeling was supposed to be bravery was keeping it steady.

"It wouldn't be the first time."

*For the first time since Geyser Ridge, Ahsoka and Vader find themselves face to face once more. What secrets might Ahsoka uncover as she continues to contemplate the nature of her changing memories and the role she has to play in this culmination point of fate? Is there more to the sudden reawakening of her and Vader's bond as Master and apprentice than Ahsoka can yet see? And how will Ezra and Kanan react to learning that Darth Vader, their deadliest enemy, is none other than Anakin Skywalker? You'll find out in the next thrilling chapter of The Unchronicled Adventures Of Ahsoka Tano! 

:Huh what who's trying to slip Saw Gerrera from Rogue One references in here pffttt not me

It's totally a coincidence that Saw and Ahsoka both have a thing with not wanting to run anymore, totally...

There was also a very, VERY subtle reference to Book Five in this chapter -- literally a phrase of figurative language. I actually couldn't remember where I used it, only that I had, and it was purely by chance that I just got a notification where someone commented on that same chapter and I was able to find it XD

Okay, seeing as we have one chapter left and time is running short, I'll let you guys go on ahead and read that. 

ONWARD!!!