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The Ballad of Skyguy and Snips
Author's note: Big spoilers ahead for the Rebels season 2 finale. Don't say I didn't warn you.
So Twilight of the Apprentice was incredible. This moment was coming for a long time, but that didn't make it any less heartbreaking. I really wanted to get into Ahsoka's head during the big showdown and try to understand all the emotions she was clearly struggling with. This is what I wrote. Hope you enjoy!
"Ahsoka..."
His voice burned a hole through her. So similar, so different.
It was true then. This was what he was now.
A towering shadow of his former self, now wholly consumed by anger and hatred...
She was glad he hadn't called her by her nickname. Perhaps he didn't have it in him. It would have broken her. The fact that he hadn't, well, it had sealed their fates. It made what she had to do next possible.
He was no longer a Jedi. Nor was she. Revenge boiled in her blood. And she would not be dissuaded now from the path she knew she had to follow.
The memories came thick and fast like smoke. A cloying taste was in her mouth as the temple walls closed in on them. She wondered if it was regret.
That sombre sunset as she had walked away... That look in his eyes, the same look she saw now through the gaping hole in his mask. That bond between them, so deep once, so close and so true. Something she had been prepared to give up. For what? For herself. For honour. For what she had thought was right.
Or maybe the taste in her mouth was guilt. Did she feel responsible for the monster standing before her now? Her hands shuddered and clenched at the thought.
She still remembered every moment, every lesson, every time he had saved her and she him. So many battles and so many shared memories. It was like he still held a part of her, and that gave him power over her. No longer. She would sever that tie once and for all.
He was not a reflection of her. He was not a spectre that followed her no matter how far she tried to run, and he was not joined to her fate. Their paths had diverged before, but not again. She would end this here. She would save him, save both of them. She would right the wrongs of her past. She would free herself from the chains in her mind that he had placed there.
She wanted him to face her now. She did not shy away from what she knew must come. She was ready and willing to swallow the burden that had been placed on her all those long years ago, without her even knowing it. And she had been just a child...
The images from her past came strong, each one demanding her attention, bringing surges of emotion, but she pushed them back. She forced herself to focus on the man in front of her now. Because that's all he was. A man. A broken, twisted shell of a man, but a man nonetheless. And that she could deal with.
Like a tomb, the temple chamber felt warm and oppressive. A hot mist was descending on them, burning acrid with the stench of death. The walls were almost shut now. She steeled herself for what would come next. If she was to do this she had to accept this man as he was - Darth Vader, Anakin Skywalker, her master, her enemy, her past, her future.
Skyguy.
What she'd give to have him call her Snips one more time.
No. She had to be strong. Now more than ever, he needed her, and she would not fail him now. She wouldn't fail either of them.
"I won't leave you," she said. "Not this time."
But her mind was full of the shadow of the past. It crept in on the edges of her vision, sparking currents of doubt, heavying her limbs and her thoughts too.
She was fully grown now, but she was sure that to him she was still the same young Padawan, a little unsure, a lot headstrong, so desperate to prove herself. She seemed to shrink under his gaze. Years receded in the sight of that one unblinking eye.
But she had changed. He would see.
And they would end this, finally, in this forsaken place, together, trapped and tortured. Two non-Jedi fighting for a future that seemed unclear. She would make it clear. She had to.
He swung. She dodged. And then they met. Their lightsabers sparked. Their bodies bowed in towards each other. She forced herself to tumble deep, headfirst, into that single glowing eye. And in that moment, her heart swelled and shattered all at once as she saw the man he was, and who he used to be, and who he could have been. Anakin...
He struck her again, and this time her mind cleared. She felt the familiar pull on the fringes of her mind. The force was calling to her, soothingly, like the slow tides of a massive ocean. For a brief second time slowed down in its wake, and she saw the future spreading out in front of her like an uncovered beach. Somehow she knew the role she had to play, just one small part of the vast connected tapestry of life. She didn't know how how or when, but she knew that, in time, both she and her master would have their redemption, no matter what was to happen in the coming moments. That vision strengthened her resolve. As it receded into the distance the here and now swelled back into focus and her mind returned to the battle, to hard strikes raining down on her.
It was time.
Don't worry, Skyguy. I'll fix this. I'll fix everything.
She swung back with all of herself, a strike full of anger and hatred and sorrow and retribution and sombre sunsets and yellow eyes, and most importantly and most wholly, full of love.