Learning to Live (COMPLETE)

8.4.3

Ahsoka hated the red glow that surrounded her. She hated how dark this place was, both visually, and in the Force. She looked up, and in the Throne of the Sith sat Sideous, the hole in his chest still burning. He was dead.

"I'll bet you're pretty proud of that," a voice said behind him, a voice Ahsoka recognized. She turned, and Anakin was standing behind her. Something was wrong though. Something was different about him.

"How are you here?" She asked him. "How did you know it was Dromund Kaas?"

"The Legacy of the Inquisitor," Anakin went on, ignoring what she had said. "The martyr who gave her life to end his."

Ahsoka dropped her chin. "It's better that way."

"Oh, I know, Ahsoka," Anakin spat, turning to face her, and that's when Ahsoka figured out what was wrong. His eyes, they were golden. "It's better that the Inquisitor died. At least she did something right!"

Her breath caught in her throat, and she froze on the spot. No, she thought frantically. Not again!

"You singlehandedly killed the Lord of the Sith, but what does that make you??? Anakin asked threateningly, and Ahsoka wanted to cower, to back away, but she didn't.

"Anakin, please," she begged, but his face was devoid of mercy.

"I tried to help you!!!" he shouted, advancing on her. "I asked you to tell me, and we could have beaten him together, but you just HAD to do it yourself and look at what you became!" He shoved her to the ground, and her jaw made contact with the stone floor.

When her head rose, she was staring at a mirror, but what she saw made her shake. Her skin was turning red, and her montrals were losing their color. She was becoming Dark again.

"No, NO! PLEASE!!!" she cried out, and she shut her eyes, trying to fight the change. "I don't want this!"

Anakin came up next to her and kicked her in the side. She curled up and whimpered, but he didn't pay any attention to Ahsoka.

"Look what you did!!! Do you know how many people died because of you? How many clones, how many civilians you hurt? What did you think was going to happen?"

"I thought...I thought..."

"There wasn't any other way to do it? No other way?"

"I'm sorry!" She pleaded, but she knew that she had no way to justify her actions. There was no reason that was good enough.

"You CHOSE to go to the Dark Side! You CHOSE to risk thousands of lives, just so you could do it yourself!"

"I didn't want to hurt them! I was trying to protect them so they wouldn't know!"

Anakin's voice dropped to a broken whisper. "After everything I've done for you, after everything I did to protect you, and you still don't trust me?"

The tears started to spill. Ahsoka couldn't see anymore, nothing past her own failure.

"I thought that maybe, after all I did for your trial, I thought maybe you would trust me. Do you know how much I risked to save you?"

Ahsoka shook her head. It was true, it was all true. How could she have betrayed the little trust she had left? She didn't defend herself, she couldn't.

"I should have let you die. I should have killed you for good," he hissed, and he kneeled down in front of the Togruta on her hands and knees.