Ahsoka Tano is in her quarters at the rebel base on Atollon. She is seated on the floor, meditating.
"Ahsoka. Where are you?" A voice asks. through the force.
"Anakin?" Ahsoka asks, recognizing the voice immediately.
"Ahsoka. Stop running. Turn yourself in. I can help you." Anakin Skywalker says.
"No. I can't." Ahsoka says.
"Trust me, Ahsoka. I know you didn't bomb the Jedi Temple. You would never do anything like that. Someone is obviously setting you up, but you running like this, it doesn't help you at all. It makes you look guilty." Anakin says.
Bomb the Jedi Temple? What the kriff is going on here? He's talking like it's sixteen years ago, and he sounds like Anakin instead of Vader. I'm dreaming. I must have fallen asleep while I was meditating. Ahsoka thinks to herself.
"Ahsoka? Are you alright?" Anakin asks.
Ok. No harm in playing along, right? Even if this is a dream, I'm talking to Anakin again. I miss him so much. Ahsoka thinks.
"Um, yes...Master. I'm alright. Still here." Ahsoka says.
"Glad to hear it, snips. Just turn yourself in, and I'll help you clear your name. I'm sure the council will help you." Anakin says.
"They won't. The council doesn't believe I'm innocent. They'll throw me out of the order, and let me be tried by the Republic courts!" Ahsoka says.
"The council won't exile you Ahsoka!" Anakin says.
"Yes, they will! They don't trust me, Anakin! They don't believe in me! Even when you prove that Barriss was responsible for all this, the only master on the council who will apologize is Master Plo!" Ahsoka says.
"Barriss? What are you talking about?" Anakin asks.
"Barriss was the one behind the temple bombing! She's also the one who killed Letta in her cell!" Ahsoka says.
"This doesn't make any sense. Barriss is your friend, Ahsoka. Why would she do this?" Anakin asks.
"She's fallen to the dark side, and believes that the Jedi are to blame for the war! She thinks that the entire order should be put on trial, and that we're all an army fighting for the dark side!" Ahsoka answers.
"Ahsoka, how can you possibly know this?" Anakin asks.
Is this some kind of fracked up force vision? What am I supposed to do? Do I tell him? Ahsoka thinks.
"Ahsoka?" Anakin asks.
What the hell! It's just a dream! Ahsoka thinks.
"Well, master, you see, the bombing on the temple, and my exile from the order already happened for me, sixteen years ago. I'm...talking to you from the future." Ahsoka says.
"This is not the time for jokes, Ahsoka." Anakin says.
"This is not a joke! If you don't believe me, go talk to Barriss! Get her to confess! Then, go save my younger self before she gets into trouble!" Ahsoka says.
"This is ridiculous! I'm starting to think you're not really Ahsoka at all. Maybe you're some kind of sith trick! Whoever you are, don't contact me again, or I will hunt you down!" Anakin says.
"Please, Anakin! Talk to Barriss!" Ahsoka says. There is no response for several seconds, so Ahsoka asks "Anakin? Are you there?"
After a minute of no response, Ahsoka leaves her meditation. She looks around her room, and says "What the frack was that?"
Sixteen years earlier: Jedi Temple-Coruscant
Anakin Skywalker awakens from his deep meditation, and stands up.
What the kriff just happened? Was that really Ahsoka? No! It's not possible! Ahsoka? From the future? It was just a sith trick! That bastard Dooku must be behind this! He's trying to turn me against a fellow Jedi! Anakin thinks.
Anakin leaves his quarters, and starts to head toward the hangar, where Rex and several other troopers are waiting for him.
Anakin does not heed future Ahsoka's advice, and doesn't believe her, until he later confronts Barriss after Ahsoka has been arrested and exiled from the Jedi Order. After a brief fight, Barriss is arrested, and taken to the Republic court, where Ahsoka is about to be sentenced to death.
"I did it. Because I've come to realize what many people in the Republic have come to realize, that the Jedi are the ones responsible for this war! That we've so lost our way that we have become villains in this conflict, that we are the ones that should be put on trial, all of us! And my attack on the temple was an attack on what the Jedi have become: an army fighting for the dark side, fallen from the light that we once held so dear. This Republic is failing! It's only a matter of time." Barriss says to those assembled in the court.
What the kriff? It's...just like she said. Was that really Ahsoka? I should talk to Master Yoda, and see if such a thing is possible. Anakin thinks to himself, ignoring events around him.
Later, after Ahsoka is released from Republic custody, she accompanies Anakin to the council chambers. The Jedi Council offers Ahsoka reinstatement into the order, but not one single master apologizes for Ahsoka's ordeal, except for Master Plo Koon.
None of them apologized, except for Master Plo! Not even Obi Wan said a damn thing! It's just like she said. Anakin thinks, as Ahsoka is offered her padawan braid. Ahsoka refuses to return to the order, and exits the council chambers.
Outside the temple, Anakin fails to change Ahsoka's mind, and she walks away from the Jedi. Away from him.
Later, after Anakin has calmed down, he goes to Master Yoda, who is seated in a meditation room.
"Come, Skywalker. Expecting you, I have been." Yoda says, pointing at the seat next to him.
"Thank you, master." Anakin says. He accepts the offered seat.
"Turmoil I sense within you. About Ahsoka this is?" Yoda asks.
"Yes. There's also something else. I had an unusual experience earlier today, while I was meditating." Anakin answers.
"Unusual experience?" Yoda asks.
"Yes, master. I was trying to use my bond with Ahsoka to contact her, and I thought I succeeded. However, she claimed to be from the future, and told me some things that were very hard to believe. Honestly, I thought it was a sith trick. Funny thing is, everything she said happened, exactly as she said it would." Anakin answers.
"Hmm. Most unusual this is, but impossible it is not. Rare this ability is." Yoda answers.
"So, it could actually be Ahsoka from the future?" Anakin asks.
"Possible it is, if perfectly balanced in the force she has become." Yoda answers.
"If this is true. What should I do?" Anakin asks.
"Determine her intentions you must. Meditate on this, we both should. For now, to ourselves we keep this knowledge." Yoda answers.
Sixteen years later: The Phantom
Ahsoka is on the Phantom, which is bound for Malachor.
"We're about ten hours from Malachor. I'll take over now, if you want to get some rest." Kanan Jarrus says.
"Thanks, Kanan." Ahsoka says. She gets out of the pilot's seat, and heads to the back of the shuttle. She sits on the floor, and enters into a deep meditation.
"Ahsoka?" Anakin asks.
"Anakin?" Ahsoka asks.
This again? I can't really be falling asleep this fast, can I? Ahsoka thinks.
"I'm sorry I doubted you, were right about Barriss, and the council." Anakin says.
"So, you believe me now?" Ahsoka asks.
Of course he believes me! It's a dream after all. Isn't it? Ahsoka thinks.
"Yeah, I do. I...talked to Master Yoda, and he said that what you're doing is actually possible, if you're balanced enough in the force. So, sixteen years? I figure you're a master by now. Probably on the council." Anakin asks.
"I...never came back to the order, Anakin." Ahsoka says.
"You never came back? What have you been doing then?" Anakin asks.
Do I lie? Do I tell the truth? Oh, frack it! Ahsoka thinks.
"I'm...a general in a rebellion." Ahsoka answers.
"A rebellion? Is it against the separatists?" Anakin asks.
"No. the separatists are gone. It's...something else." Ahsoka says.
It's you, skyguy. You're the something else. Dammit! I need to tell him more! Maybe I can save him! Ahsoka thinks.
"Tell me more, Ahsoka. Anything that will help us end this war sooner." Anakin says.
"It would overwhelm you, Anakin. There's...so much that went wrong." Ahsoka says.
"Went wrong? What happened? Do we lose?" Anakin asks.
"Everybody loses. Except for the Sith." Ahsoka answers.
"The Sith? Do you know who Dooku's master is?" Anakin asks.
Now or never. Anakin needs to know. That mother fracker is pretending to be his friend, after all. Ahsoka thinks.
"Anakin, I'm...sorry to have to tell you this, but the sith lord...is...Chancellor Palpatine." Ahsoka says. There are several seconds of silence.
"What? The Chancellor?" Anakin asks.
"I'm afraid so. I know he's your friend, but he's playing you. He's...playing everyone. Don't...trust him, or...he'll destroy you." Ahsoka answers, her voice now wavering as she starts crying.
"Are you alright, snips?" Anakin asks.
"No, I'm not. It's because I haven't seen you in so long. I missed you. Now, here I am, talking to you." Ahsoka answers.
"Oh, force. Am I dead?" Anakin asks.
"You might as well be! Goddamn Palpatine turned you to the dark side! You've got to stop him! Don't let that mother fracker destroy the Jedi or turn the Republic into an Empire!" Ahsoka shouts.
"Wow, snips. I'm so sorry. I wish I could be there for you." Anakin says.
Oh, force. I wish you could be here too, Anakin. Ahsoka thinks.
"Hearing your voice helps, Anakin." Ahsoka says.
"How...did he do it?" Anakin asks.
"He used the clones to kill most of the Jedi. As far as turning you, I don't know. I wasn't around when it happened. All I know is that you led an attack on the Jedi Temple, and killed everyone inside. On Mustafar, you fought Obi Wan, and he beat you. Then, you...attacked...Padme. She died, giving birth to your children." Ahsoka answers.
"I...hurt...Padme? Why would I do that? I love her more than anything!" Anakin says.
"I know, Anakin. I know you're married to her. Maybe Palpatine made some kind of promise to manipulate you into helping him, and it had something to do with Padme. The dark side slowly destroys your soul, until you become an uncaring monster, just like Palpatine. That's you in my time, twisted and evil." Ahsoka says.
"I'm going to kill him!" Anakin says.
"I hope you do, but be smart about it. Expose him first, or you'll be a murderer instead of a hero." Ahsoka says.
"Help me, Ahsoka. Help me change things!" Anakin says.
"Alright. I'll answer any questions I can." Ahsoka says.
Can we do this? Can we save all of it? Can I save him? Ahsoka thinks.
"You said he used the clones against the Jedi." Anakin says.
"Yeah. Palpatine was behind the creation of the clone army. The clones have control chips in their brains, with a series of built in commands. One of them is called Order 66. It causes the clones to kill all Jedi on sight." Ahsoka says.
"Damn. Those men are our friends. I've got to help them." Anakin says.
"Please, Anakin. Do what you can for them. In my time, there are only three clones free of the chips." Ahsoka says.
"Only three?" Anakin asks.
"Yeah. Rex, Wolffe, and Gregor. The rest are dead, or serving the Empire, as mindless slaves." Ahsoka answers.
"Thanks, Ahsoka. I've...got to go. Someone is calling my comlink. I'll do what I can to change things. Be safe, snips." Anakin says.
"You too, skyguy." Ahsoka says.
Ahsoka exits her meditation, and is suddenly overwhelmed by new memories.
Anakin did it? He...saved the clones! They're free! I...really talked to him! NO! We still lost the war! The Empire still exists! Palpatine used the Separatists instead of the clones to destroy the Jedi! He didn't destroy all of them, though! Almost two thousand survived the purge! Master Shaak Ti, Master Secura, Master Vos, Master Billaba, and...Master Plo! They're...alive! NOOOOOOO! Anakin! He didn't turn, so Palpatine killed him instead! Barriss is...Darth Victa? Palpatine's apprentice? Damn that old bastard! Padme...she's alive, leading the Rebellion? My...padawan...is...Leia? Skyguy's little girl? I came back to the order after what happened to Anakin? the council begged me to! Now I'm...on the council? I'm...a Jedi Master? What the frack? I remember all of this, yet I also remember the way things used to be, before I talked to Anakin. I need to calm down, then, I need to talk to Bendu. Maybe he can help me make sense of all this. If we can change things like this, maybe I can save Anakin after all. Ahsoka thinks. The new memories cause her to break down, sobbing, mostly out of joy, but also sorrow that Anakin is still not around. Her surroundings also change, and she now finds herself in her quarters on Atollon.
What? I'm...back on Chopper Base? Right. We...never left for Malachor. There was no reason to go there. Ahsoka thinks.