A/N: This story is rated M. It contains graphic and mature content. Sexual themes as well as others will be referenced and written throughout the story. Violence and language are also included. Read at your discretion. Enjoy Asylum!

POV: Anakin Skywalker

Screams.

Pure screams. I could hear different sounds echoing behind each outburst and I heard words being whispered as well. People were screaming for help. Hearts and minds were racing; fingernails were digging and clawing, searching for a way out. The ultimate goal was to escape and to escape alive. Isn't that what every goal is when you're lost?

I twisted my vision to see a woman fall, her hair flying up in the air for a brief moment as she fell. She screamed and clawed into the floorboards as she was dragged away quickly into the darkness. The others screamed in horror as she disappeared and was silenced.

I couldn't make out their faces nor could I place their voices, but they were terrified. Terrified wasn't even the right word to use here. They were scared shitless and there was nothing anyone could do for them because they were trapped.

They were at a dead-end in their life and this was it for them. One by one, they would be slaughtered until no one was left to speak about this incident.

A figure in white, her voice full of beautiful laughter, arose behind the crowd of people. They spun around and screamed at the sight of her. Her angelic face was glowing brightly as she continued to laugh. The crowd of unseen faces ran as fast as they could to escape her, but she was faster than them.

Her form became a vast amount of darkness and she began to claw at their bodies until they were all torn to shreds and lying in pieces on the cold, stone floor. Blood was seeping in every direction, almost as if it were an endless stream of red. The smell was revolting and nauseated me to the point where I felt myself getting sick.

Lightning flashed and she spun towards me, smiling wickedly at me, whispering, "You're the last." Her head twitched and jerked violently and her smile grew wider. Her hands became claws and her fingers were sharpened. I could feel them shredding through me before she even touched me. She lurched towards me, a piercing scream echoing in the hall. Another flash of lightning struck outside.

I lurched into an upright position in my bed, sweat pouring all over my body. I gasped for breath and stared across the room to see my Togruti apprentice lying on her own bed peacefully. I closed my eyes and tried to calm myself down.

I heard her moan in her sleep and my eyes reopened to lock onto her once again. She rolled over, holding onto her pillow. I could see that she was dreaming as well. I sighed and smiled at her. I wish I could have her dreams instead of these cruel nightmares.

This wasn't the first time I'd had this nightmare. I knew it had meaning and I knew that, whatever it was, it was going to happen sometime soon. Most of my nightmares were actually premonitions and they normally came true. My mother's death came true after all…

"Master?" a small, tired voice whispered. I jumped a bit before slowly glancing over at my Padawan again. "Sorry, Master. I didn't mean to startle you. Are you all right?"

I sighed and shook my head. I pulled my blanket back and threw my legs over the side of the bed, allowing my feet to touch the floor. Ahsoka sat up and stared at me concernedly. My chest was dripping with sweat and my hair was matted down against my head. "Go back to sleep, Ahsoka," I whispered, breathlessly.

"Nightmare?"

I gave her a curious look. "How did you know about that?"

"The last couple of nights, you woke me up. You were whispering things in your sleep about death and fear. I was scared for a while, but then I realized that you must be more scared than me because you're the one going through these things." She paused and bit her lip. "Do you want to talk about it?"

I ran my fingers through my hair and sighed. "Would you mind if I showered really quickly?"

She shook her head. "Go ahead, Master. I'll have your clothes ready for you once you're finished."

I smiled and pushed myself off of my bed, slowly crossing the room to enter the refresher. I stripped my pants and underwear before turning the faucets to start the water. I stepped in and let the cool water wash over my body.

I sighed in relief at the good sensation before beginning to wash myself. I was quick, as I promised Ahsoka. I turned the water off and stepped out, pulling a towel out of the shelf across from me. I wrapped it around my waist and walked out into the bedroom area.

Ahsoka was sitting on her bed, holding her hands together in front of her. I raised an eyebrow at her as I stopped at the foot of her bed. "Is something on your mind that you'd like to talk about?"

She looked up at me in concern. "I'm just worried about you, Master. I know how painful premonitions can be and I know how traumatizing they can be as well. Your foresight is exceptional. You're… stronger than I am and I'm afraid that this will hurt you in the long run."

"Give me a second to get dressed," I whispered. She nodded and closed her eyes. I moved towards my bed and immediately stripped the towel, pulled on my boxers, and wrapped myself in the robe I always wore instead of pajamas. I crossed over to her once again and sat beside her. She opened her eyes and gave me that concerned look once again. "Ahsoka –"

"Master, if I may speak freely," she whispered. I nodded and kept quiet as she began to speak. "We've known each other for almost four years. I've helped you in your worst times and you've helped me in mine. I want this bond to keep working like that. I don't want you to shut me out anymore. I want to know what's going on in your head."

I sighed and rested my hand on her leg as a friendly gesture. "Listen," I whispered. "I don't quite understand what's happening yet or when it'll happen. I know where it's going to happen and I need to go investigate."

"Let me come with you," she pleaded.

I smiled weakly, chuckling. "Ahsoka, where would I be without you? I've got to have you at my side at all times. You're my Padawan." I paused and saw that she seemed a little down. Maybe her spirit was down since she and I had been a little… uneasy lately. I knew it was because of my premonitions. I was unintentionally pushing her further and further away from me, but now I had to draw her back in. "You're my best friend," I whispered. This was the first time that I'd actually admitted to being closer to her.

"Master…"

"Oh, come on. Don't get emotional, Ahsoka. You know how –"

She laughed lightly and leaned against me. "I know, Master. I know." We sat there without speaking; the only sounds in the room were that of our breathing. "So where are we going, Master?"

"Korriban," I whispered. "It's where the Sith supposedly originated from several hundreds to thousands of years ago. I've heard rumors of it being haunted, but none of those rumors have been proven."

"Okay, Master, I'm officially lost and too far behind." She sat up straighter and stared directly into my eyes. "Tell me about the premonition and we'll go from there."

I sighed and nodded, knowing that we'd be able to work through this together. She and I had gone over premonitions in the past. Sure, they were mainly her premonitions, but I knew she was eager to return the favor for once. We spent the next half hour talking about my premonition. She felt a bit disturbed by how graphic and in depth it was, but she wasn't deterred from helping me.

"This… temple appeared in a previous dream," I whispered. "I saw it about a week ago. It was one of the first things I saw. The people and all of the fear were next."

"These people…" she trailed off. "Were any of them familiar?"

"They had no faces."

"Okay. Well, what about this woman in white that you spoke about? Was she familiar?"

"Nothing about the dream felt familiar," I said, growing frustrated. "I don't know the people, the voices, or anything else you're going to ask me."

"I'm just trying to help," she said, equally as frustrated as I was. "You're always so Force damned stubborn when it comes to me helping you. You'd leap into a fight without thinking about it first if you knew I was in danger."

"That's my job as your Master." I paused and met her eyes again. "And you watch your language, young lady."

She smirked. "I learned everything I know from you, Master."

"One more snide, smart ass remark and you'll be staying behind while I explore Korriban."

She rolled her eyes and stood up, stretching her stiff muscles. I winced as her elbows and knees cracked audibly. She turned to look down at me and smiled. "Ready to leave, Master?"

I gaped at her. "We don't have permission to leave."

"Since when do you need permission to leave, Master? You've never been one to play by the rules or follow orders. We all know that's why I get yelled at after a failed mission."

I sighed. "I'm sorry that you feel that way."

"I'm following in your footsteps, Master. You're like a father…" She trailed off when she realized that that must not have been something she wanted to say. "You're like a brother to me, Master. I care about you and you care about me. I'm going to be there for you like you'll be there for me. You're the older one that protects me from everything and I'm learning from you how to protect myself. I've learned from one of the best Jedi in the entire Order."

"Ahsoka…" I stood up and she backed up a bit as I outstretched my arms towards her. "Suck up," I muttered, immediately wrenching my arms back towards me.

"What?"

"You know I'm upset with you for buying shitty food for dinner," I teased. "You're making up for it by making me think I'm almost as supreme as the Chancellor."

"Oh, so you're all full of yourself until I compliment you? Geez, Master, I wonder why we've had such a hard time getting along lately."

"Will that hug make things better?"

"No," she muttered, her lower lip jutting out a bit.

I rolled my eyes and held my arms out slowly. She glanced sideways at me before darting towards me, embracing me tightly. I laughed lightly and rested my hand on her rear lek. "Thank you, Ahsoka."

"I mean what I said," she whispered against my shoulder.

"I know."

We separated and she began to move away from me, heading towards her dresser. "I'll get into my outfit and we can leave on the Twilight if you want, Master."

"Sounds fine. I'll pull on some more clothes since I've got the bare minimum on as it is."

We both stood in front of our dressers with our backs to each other. This was how we always got dressed. Neither of us could ever face watching the other get dressed. Everything involving women had become awkward for me and Ahsoka knew that. I'd confided in her a little too much and now she knew every last detail there was to know about the 'mysterious Anakin Skywalker.'

As I fixed my tunic, a small hand rested on my shoulder. "I'm still sorry for what happened."

I sighed. "Ahsoka, this is war. Lives are lost. It's our job as soldiers and guardians to –"

"She was your wife," she whispered. "She wasn't just someone that was lost in the battle. She meant so much more to you than anyone that's been killed in this war. You came to me for comfort and I helped you as best I could. I know you still hurt, Master, but I want you to know that I'm here for you. She was my friend, too."

"I still find it hard to believe that it was only six months ago," I whispered. I lifted my hand to touch hers and she frowned. "But you've helped me come a long way in three months. I appreciate all that you've done for me, Snips. I know I wasn't in the best shape, but you stuck around. You got me back up on my feet and gave me a reason to keep going."

"You're my Master. I couldn't just sit there while you withered away in depression."

"I'm sorry for what happened between –"

"We promised each other that we'd never speak of that again," she said, her emotions becoming jumbled up and flustered. "We were both vulnerable."

I nodded and sighed. "You're right, Ahsoka. I'm glad you decided to stay with me though. I kept worrying about you…"

"Don't ever worry about me, Master. We're so much closer than we were before. One accident isn't going to change our Master and Padawan relationship. Besides, you're still my best friend."

"I'm your only friend," I teased.

She smacked my shoulder. "You had to ruin the moment, didn't you?"

"Snips –"

"No, no. I'm fine. Let's just go, okay?"

"What's on your mind, Ahsoka?"

She sighed and I gently grabbed her shoulder, pulling her back a little. She stared up at me sadly and bit her lip. "Sometimes I can't help but think about what could have been if things had turned out differently that one night. I'm not saying that I want to be with you like you were with Padme, but…"

"Ahsoka," I whispered. "I can't. I know I hurt you that night, but I'm still technically married to Padme. I'd preach to you about how we're not allowed to love, but you already know everything, so there's no point. Listen." I turned her to face me completely and sighed. "I think you're a beautiful girl, but I don't think we have a future together. I can only see you as my Padawan and maybe my companion once you become a Jedi Knight. I don't know if I can be… romantically involved with you, Ahsoka. That could put bigger strains on our friendship."

She sighed and nodded. "I understand, Master."

I stared at her sad face for a few moments, wishing there was something I could do without breaking my moral code. Yes, it had been broken already, but I was trying to keep myself from having another slip up. Waking up one morning to my naked apprentice sleeping beside me wasn't entirely pleasant. I'd stripped away the only innocence she could have vouched for.

Her watery, blue eyes met mine and she tried to force a smile. That was the thing between us. I could always tell when her smiles were forced. I instinctively wrapped my arms around her and held her tightly against my chest, comforting her like I'd done since Mortis. Losing her on Mortis had been enough of a sign for me to take her life much more seriously. I couldn't just stand there while she needed me. Losing her to a bunch of Trandoshan hunters hurt so much more and it left a scar on my soul. I could have lost Ahsoka for good in those few days, but she had managed to survive because of me.

"Are you okay, Master?"

I sighed and gently kissed her left montral. "I'm fine. I have you, Ahsoka. I just don't want to lose you again. You mean so much to me even after everything that's happened."

"I love you, Master. I loved you since the beginning and it only intensified when we finally –"

"Ahsoka, stop." I pushed her away from me carefully and stared into her eyes. "I know how you feel about me. You should know that I feel the same way for you, but I can't do this. I know what I did to you was wrong, no matter how great it was for us both, and I can't hurt you again. Please, don't make me say anything I'll regret later and don't say anything that'll get your hopes up."

"Okay," she whispered.

She pushed past me and began to storm out of our dorm. I sighed in frustration, arching my back a bit as I watched her exit the room. Sometimes, she could be really childish, but then I remember that she is a child. She might be eighteen years old, but she's still a child in my eyes. She wasn't meant to be involved in this war and it was unfortunate that she had to be a part of it at such a young age.

She was more traumatized than she ever let on. She had nearly died on several occasions and she'd watched me have close calls of my own. Our men died every time we went on a mission. She knew it hurt me and I knew it hurt her. We'd been able to confide in each other quite a bit because of how similar we are.

Like she 'd mentioned earlier, we have known each other for nearly four years. She had survived with me for this long and she'd kept me alive and well for this long. Perhaps she deserved a chance…

Ahsoka was more than just an apprentice to me. I'd made love to her once, stripping her of her virginity, and we had become something… more. I shook my head in an attempt to clear my mind. I moved towards our closet and pulled out a decent sized pack, stuffing as much clothing and supplies into it as I could.

As I straightened up, I glanced over at her bed and saw what I'd done to her three months ago. Just then, it occurred to me that I had to give her a chance. All I wanted that night was love and she'd given it to me. Ahsoka deserved more than this. I couldn't even look at her the same way anymore. She wasn't my little Padawan anymore. She was my Ahsoka. I'd labeled her when I took her and I'd have to live with that for the rest of my life.

I glanced at the door, sensing her coming back. I chewed on my lower lip worriedly as I stared at the durasteel doors. She was still vulnerable in my eyes, but so was I. Was I actually willing to see if Ahsoka and I could start something?

I closed my eyes and quickly contemplated the two paths I could take for my future.