Seven Words
"We're coming as fast as we can. Just be ready to gooo-whoa! No no no no!" Ezra felt the holocron being pulled from him, but held on, seeing Vader trying to take it. "Kanan! It's him!" He called. "I know," Kanan replied, holding tight to his apprentice's hand. "I've got you." Vader was too focused on the two Jedi in front of him, plus the prize one of them refused to release, to notice a figure, with blades ignited, charging at him. He suddenly sensed her presence and turned, only to be met by white blades. Ahsoka yelled, slicing at his mask. "Aaaaaah!" Vader cried out. Ahsoka dropped to the ground, losing one of her lightsabers in the process. Grabbing the weapon, she slowly moved to get up. "Ahsoka." She froze. Turning toward Vader, she looked on as he knelt, head turned to his right. "Ahsoka." He looked up and revealed the man behind the mask in the section she had sliced off. She gasped. "Anakin." The two stood up and stared at each other. "I won't leave you! She declared. "Not this time." Vader looked at the ground, considering her words. After what seemed like hours, he looked up. "What has possessed you to say this?" he asked. Ahsoka looked at him, surprised by his question. "I-I know I failed you," she began. "I wasn't going to just abandon you again." Vader pondered these words, before being snapped out of his thoughts. "Ahsoka! Come on! Hurry!" Ezra called, with Chopper and Kanan echoing his urgency. Vader looked at his former apprentice. "We must hurry before we are buried here," he said, showing sympathy that was unheard of from his, of late. And, for the first time since their final mission together, Anakin (Vader) and Ahsoka hurried out. Immediately, they noticed that the Sith Lord's TIE fighter was gone. Without time to waste, Vader boarded the Phantom with Ahsoka and Ezra. The ride away from the collapsing temple and out of Malachor's atmosphere was an awkward one, with Vader's semi-labored breathing, due to his damaged mask. The awkward moment was too much for Ezra. "What will you do, now that you've failed the Emperor and lost three more inquisitors?" he asked Vader. "The Emperor will task me with correcting this failure,"Vader replied, with a mix of his feared voice plus the voice of his former self. "The inquisitors can be replaced, but a holocron cannot." Ezra looked at the holocron he held in his hands. He knew how important these type of things were to the Sith, just like the Jedi holocrons were important to the Jedi. Just then, Kanan remembered something. "Are we taking him to the base?" he asked Ahsoka. "It's not like we have much choice," she replied. "The challenge will be how our companions will react to his presence." Vader looked across the three faces before him. He knew that he had a choice to make: Go with the Rebels and report their location to the Empire, allow himself to be taken prisoner, or join them. His former padawan's words still rang in his head. "I will not cause any disruptions," he finally said. "Your words have found a part of who I once was, Ahsoka." He paused, noticing that the trio before him sensed a change in him. "While I may not be ready to renounce the Dark Side," he continued. "You're making steps in that direction," Ezra calmly finished for him. All Vader could do was nod.
The sun was beginning to set as the Phantom landed at Chopper Base. Herra, Sabine, Zeb, and Re all watched the hatch drop. Herra looked in shock as a blindfolded Kanan stepped out, before rushing to embrace him. Ezra and Ahsoka walked out next, much to Rex's relief. Then, finally, Vader, while Chopper landed next to him, letting loose a nervous dialogue only a select few could translate. Rebels aimed at the dark lord, before Ahsoka stepped up. "He's clear," she said. "He's not going to harm us."
Vader couldn't stopp looking at Rex, who stared at the eye visible from Ahsoka's handy work. Rex now knew of his old friend's fate. "I see you still wear some of your old armor," Vader said. Rex was taken aback by the mix of Anakin and Vader in the voice speaking to him. "So who left an impression on you know, general?" Rex asked, trying to lighten the mood. Vader looked to Ahsoka. That look was all Rex needed. "It seems she finally got a little payback for all the times I teased her during the war," he said. It may have just been the mixed voices, but Rex and Ahsoka could've swore Anakin just peaked through from behind the mask. Everyone relaxed and smiled. Anakin Skywalker was still dead to Vader, but he could tell that might change soon. No matter what happened next, he would never forget the day his old apprentice said "I won't leave you. Not this time."