One With The Force

I LIIIIVVEEE.

Wow. I can't believe how long its been since I've written a fanfiction. But this idea just would not leave my mind. And it is quite short, so there's nor excuse for me to chicken out like I usually do.

Anyway this is, for now, a one-shot that takes place immediately after the duel between Vader and Ahsoka in Twilight of the Apprentice. While i love Ahsoka so much, I thought this would be an interesting avenue to explore. I don't know if she's actually dead. In fact, it's probably left ambiguous on purpose so they can bring her back later if they really want to and be like "oh no, she never actually died, you could see her at the end." But, yeah, the story below is also plausible in my opinion, with the embellished addition of another character I love. I'm not used to writing this kind of heavy emotional stuff, so I'm honestly not sure how it turned out. But I hope you like it. And please don't hate me too much ^_^

I maaay add a chapter or two in the future, if I feel the impulse to do so, as I did with this one. I wouldn't cancel out an anisoka reunion in another chapter. But for now, it is just a one-shot. Enjoy :D

ON WITH THE ACTUAL TALE

Ahsoka felt herself go numb as she dropped to the ground, her hands and knees providing little support as her body started shaking. Darth Vader was behind her now, his dark presence retreating along with him. She shuddered, feeling the effects of the fatal wound he'd left her with. She wondered briefly, most certainly in vain, if he felt too guilty to finish the job properly. Not that it mattered now. She wouldn't last long, and there was no one left to help her.

The walls of the temple were still shaking around her, and dust and debris were flying everywhere. But Ahsoka didn't care. Tears streamed down her face as she felt her former master retreat. Former mentor. Former friend. Now dark lord. Even now, she couldn't believe it. How could he have let himself become this? To fall so far into the dark side? It wasn't the master she knew at all.

And just for a moment, as she lay there dying, she let those shaming doubts fill her. It's my fault. I never should have left. She choked back a sob, trying to stem the tears that had not stopped falling.

"Ahsoka"

Ahsoka started at the sound of her name. Someone was here? That voice sounded…so familiar. It was one she hadn't heard in a long time. But her vision was blurry as she looked around. She couldn't see very well.

"Do not see. Feel. The power of the force you still wield."

She was afraid to close her eyes. If she closed her eyes, she would die. And she wasn't ready to. She had to save Anakin. She couldn't abandon him again.

"Trust"

She took a shaky breath and closed her eyes, opening her mind to the force.

As she closed her eyes, a vision appeared before her. Not a vision. A presence. She knew that presence. From her training. From the Jedi Temple. But could it really be…? "Master Yoda?" she asked hesitantly. She still couldn't see, but that familiar chuckle confirmed her assumption. "I don't…I don't understand"

He chuckled again. "So ready to accept your fate are you?" he asked, his tone light and amused.

Ahsoka grew tired. The force was stealing her strength. "Master Yoda…I'm sorry. I failed. I couldn't stop him. He is too strong with the dark side" she admitted.

"Stop the dark side you cannot. Always balance there must be"

"But Anakin-"

"Still care for your former master do you? After all he has done?" Again, his tone was so conversational. As if they weren't discussing a mass-murdering sith lord in the shadow of her death.

Ahsoka choked back a sob at his words. She shouldn't still care about him. He'd done so many things, fallen so far. But…

"I could see him in there, Master. Not as Vader. As Anakin. There's still hope for him, I can feel it" she affirmed. As she said this, a light shone, and Master Yoda revealed himself sitting before her in his usual meditative position.

"Sure of this you are?" She frowned at this question. But his expression was not disbelieving, nor was there any doubt in his words. A lesson then. Joy.

"At first I thought…I thought he was gone. The Anakin I knew…could never… he would never… do the things that Vader has done" she admitted. She felt the prickle of tears in her eyes, and fought to keep them back. She would not cry now, not with Master Yoda watching. She didn't want to be that weak in her final moments. "His signature was so dark, so hateful, I tried to believe it wasn't him." She paused to gather her thoughts. It was getting harder to think. Yoda sat silently, listening, and waiting for her to continue. "But then…I saw him." A tear escaped, as she fought back the sob in her throat. "His mask was damaged, and I saw him. And for a moment, it was him. It was Anakin." She gave up fighting, and allowed more tears to fall, tuning out her mentor.

"Clear your mind, Ahsoka. Focus on this, you must" Master Yoda said, when he could feel her emotions spiraling.

Ahsoka sniffed, trying to reign it in. "…it was only for a moment. But it was him. I just…I wasn't enough. I couldn't save him" she admitted, at last vocalizing the painful truth. After all she and Anakin had been through, the battles they'd fought, the lessons they'd learned, the bond they'd formed. Even after all that, she hadn't been enough to bring him back. She was a failure.

As she met Yoda's stare, she was shocked to see the empathy on his face. "Understand this, I do. Lost many friends to the dark side, I have" he admitted. He was quiet for a moment, allowing Ahsoka to calm her mind, before continuing. "Strong and seducing is the power of the dark side. Hard to shake it is. Believe your former master can, do you?" he asked.

Ahsoka weighed the question. It felt like a test. One she desperately wanted to pass. It seemed important, though she couldn't quite think why. "Yes" she finally said. "I do. There's still good in him. I know it." For all her doubts, all her failings, she believed this to her very core. And maybe she had failed to save him. Their bond hadn't been enough to call him back. But someone out there would. She had to believe that. She did believe it

As all these thoughts ran through her mind, she calmed, her worries and fears leaving her mind.

And Yoda smiled. "Take heart, Ahsoka Tano. Hope for Anakin Skywalker, there may yet be" he comforted.

Ahsoka allowed herself to smile at his words. "Really?" she whispered hopefully. He only nodded in reply, but that was enough. Master Yoda believed her. There was still a chance then, even without her.

She shuddered, and felt her body grow colder. "I don't know if I'm ready to die" she admitted, her voice cracking.

Master Yoda's expression grew sombre as he considered her. "Help you through this, I cannot. At peace with yourself you must be, if you are to be one with the force" he instructed.

Ahsoka let out a sharp sigh, and her lungs let her know what a mistake that was. "I don't…what does that even mean, Master? I don't understand." She was panicking now. She could feel her energy fading. No. Not yet. She wasn't ready.

"Too young you are, for this last Jedi lesson. A Jedi Master one usually must be"

Ahsoka let out a sob. "I left the Jedi order. I can't-I can't-"

"Left the order you may have, Ahsoka Tano, but a true Jedi you have proven yourself to be. Cleanse your mind, make peace with yourself, and with you the force will be."

Ahsoka took a deep breath, and tried to do as Master Yoda instructed. Make peace. She had made peace. Hadn't she? There was no way out. She was going to die. She had failed her master, but she believed in the hope that someone could bring him back. And-

Oh

She smiled, then.

Master Yoda hummed happily. "Now you see."

She nodded, and taking one more deep breath, she slowly opened her eyes.

And it was like time had stopped while she was conversing with the force. She could even still feel Darth Vader walking away, his presence fading as he drew further away. She felt a slight twinge-

No. She had made peace with her guilt. Anakin could still be saved. She just wouldn't be the one to do it. As she cleared her emotions once more, she noticed a shadow pass over her, and she looked up to see a small owl - no a convor - fly overhead. It cooed as it flew away, a trail of light falling gently down towards her.

And then she closed her eyes once more, and allowed herself to let go.

With Darth Vader's back turned, his job done (as far as he knew), no one was there to witness Ahsoka Tano rise through the debris, her body shimmering with the power the force. She refused to look back as she walked further into the temple. Into the force.