Author's note: I wrote this chapter over and over three times! It was so much harder than I thought it would be. This is my final draft. I might write a little epilogue to this story. Also, I hope you enjoyed it. It was a lot of fun for my first "Star Wars" story. Please review if you liked it! :)

10.

It was late in the day, and Hera had talked Rex into getting something to eat and taking a few minutes off from watching over Ahsoka. The old soldier had given up trying to wake his friend, but instead taken up a silent vigil by her bedside. The nurses and medical droids were saying things that none of them wanted to hear. That Ahsoka had given up. That her systems were shutting down, as if she'd lost the will to live. Hera had told Kanan about it this morning, and it was then that he decided what to do.

As Kanan sat there, quietly listening to the hum of the machines monitoring her heartbeat, breathing and blood pressure, he reached out for her hand, laying on top of the sheet. Her fingers were cold, like death in his gentle grip. He wondered if what he was about to do was wise. Probably not. Would it stop him? Most definitely not.

Had Ahsoka become lost in her own interior world? Had she gotten lost in the deep currents of the Force? Did she believe she was still back on Malachor? Perhaps this had been one way to tune out the voice of the aphotic darkness that existed on that planet.

"Force, I need some help here." He muttered as he took her hand in both of his own and closed his eyes, finding the waves of the Force answering his need. He immersed himself in its glow and felt the welcome calmness of it.

His mind floated in that tide for long moments, then he reached out for Ahsoka. As before, with Ezra, he was suddenly assaulted by a wave of images, sounds, smells and sensations—she was furiously, frantically trying to communicate with him. He winced at the pain; Ahsoka's spinning world flew around him in a maelstrom of memories and experiences so quickly that it hurt.

Ahsoka...please slow down. He reached out, trying to grasp the images more slowly so he could comprehend them.

The world stopped and he was standing on the Grand Promenade in the Jedi Temple. This time was different, though. It was night, a mild Coruscant night turned to nightmare. Around him were the dead of the past.

They lay where they'd fallen after Vader and his troops had killed them—lightsabers in hand, eyes open and unseeing. The smell of blood and burning flesh was in the air. He'd heard the stories and seen the horror-filled, blood-soaked holonet images of it, flashes that burned into his mind before he could avert his gaze. Deeper in the temple, he could hear the sounds of blaster fire and screaming. Everywhere around him was the contamination of the dark side.

"Ahsoka. Please." He turned around, sensing Ahsoka's feelings of horror and desolation. He closed his eyes, trying to shut it all out and reach for her-her spirit. After a few moments, silence fell.

He opened his eyes and he was sitting in a quiet meditation hall, across from Ahsoka. They were the only two in the whole room, sitting similarly: cross-legged with hands on their knees.

She was luminescent with the Force, deeply immersed and protected as she looked past him to some place he couldn't see. He looked around him, at the shining marble floors of the Jedi temple, at the vaulted roof and then at the windows. Blackness, occasionally broken by wisps of evil faces, hammered at them; the thumps against the shatterproof glass were the only noise in the room. It was the dark side, trying like it always did to get in.

"You are not a trick of the dark side this time, are you?" She spoke softly, not looking at him but at the darkness outside.

"No." He replied. "It's not a trick. You're safe."

Her eyes shifted to him instantly and her visage filled with distrust. "Malachor is not safe. Something...foul with the dark side has awoken there."

"I know. Ezra found you and we rescued you. You're okay. You don't have to hide here." He gestured around them.

She reached out with both hands and grabbed his shoulders, pulling him closer. She studied his eyes and he could feel the strength of her Force signature sweep over and through him as she searched for any hint of falsehood. Finding none, she nodded, and he could visibly see her relax.

A particularly loud thump startled the both of them. "What's out there?" Kanan asked.

"The past. The truth. And lies. The dark side." She said as she turned and saw a face among the others, a particular face with brown hair and red and gold eyes. In a moment it had vanished and she shuddered. "I can't leave this safe place. Malachor is crawling with the dark side."

So, she was hiding here for protection from whatever that evil place and Vader had put her through. He remembered all too clearly the feeling of evil on that planet. In her mind, the mental battle had turned into an assault on the fortress of her meditation. "Ahsoka. Vader is gone. You are safe." He reached out and placed a hand on her arm.

She laughed so bitterly that a chill went through Kanan. Her eyes flashed as she looked up at him again. "Vader...will never be gone." She bowed her head and seemed to be gathering herself for something. "Kanan. When I attacked An-...um Vader..." She took a deep breath. "I slashed his helmet with my lightsaber. I saw...what was underneath..." She reached out and grabbed his arm and shared the memory. Instantly Kanan knew the awful knowledge that she didn't want to face. Vader was Anakin Skywalker!

"Force..." Kanan swore. "Your Master." He couldn't have felt more surprised. Ahsoka didn't have to nod. Her look was enough. He tried to imagine how something like that could have happened. He knew that the dark side was always there. It was a constant threat to a Jedi, but the hero of the republic falling to the dark side? It was hard to believe, but obviously true.

"He tried to kill me."

"But he didn't..." Kanan murmured.

"Only because the temple gave way first. Oh Kanan..." A tear began to roll down her cheek, one followed by another and another. "I should never have left him back then." Her calm demeanor began to crack.

"I'm so sorry." He knew that if Ahsoka and Anakin had been bonded like he and Ezra were, this pain had to be horrible, unbearable. "I'm sorry."

"So many regrets..."

Kanan thought about his own regrets as well. Not being able to save his own Master. Not being there for Ezra when his padawan was struggling with the holocron and needed him most. Not killing Maul when he had the chance. "I know about regrets."

He leaned over to embrace her for long moments and she cried, her face pressed against his shoulder. When her grief had temporarily spent itself, he finally let her go. Standing up and pulling her to her feet, he said, "The thing I know is that even though you have regrets, you move on. They don't go away; they never hurt less. Going on, though...it's the way to make that pain mean something." He waited for a response. "My master died during Order 66. I wasn't able to save her. I regret that every day, but I go on. I try my best to teach Ezra the right things. I fight the Empire. Because that's what she would expect of me. That's how I get through the pain."

Ahsoka looked at him searchingly. Deep down inside she felt the inherent rightness of his words.

"Your Master. Skywalker..." Kanan began again. "If he was here...the light part of that which was inside of him...what would he expect of you?"

"To do my best to restore the Republic and kick some Empire ass." She was unsuccessfully trying to blink the tears away. The years she spent as a padawan under Anakin came back to her and she found herself smiling, through the tears. "That I fight every way I can. Until I can't fight anymore."

Kanan nodded. "The fight is out there." He gestured around them, noticing the shafts of sunlight that now broke up the darkness around the windows. It was a good sign. "Come back to us. I'm right beside you. So is Rex, Hera and Ezra." He felt their presences beside him as he began to wake from his trance. The meditation room faded around them.

He opened his eyes, as if he would see once more, but the real world was still dark and murky, until he turned his attention over in Hera's direction. The bright light of her being swirled around her and he smiled. She always felt like home. She grabbed his free hand and squeezed it hard.

"Did you…?" She began.

"Just watch..." He was sure now that Ahsoka had followed him from that dark place in her mind to here.

Ahsoka's blue eyes went wide when she opened them on the world again. The first person she saw was Ezra, standing at the foot of the bed and Rex who was on her left side. Hera and Kanan were on her right.

"Ahsoka?" Rex leaned in, searching her face. He was unable to hide his happiness. "We thought we'd lost you, kid."

She took his hand and squeezed it briefly. "Mmm….Can't get rid...of me that...easily." Her voice was hoarse from not using it for a few days. Finding Kanan's eyes so she could thank him, she suddenly gasped. Hera no longer kept them bandaged, they had healed beyond that point with the help of the bacta pads, so the damage was clearly visible.

"Oh no." She breathed. "Kanan. Your..."

"Yeah. I'm adjusting." He spoke quickly, trying to pass it off. He studied her force signature, and it seemed much stronger than it had been before. "How do you feel?"

"Ready to fight." She said. "Ready to get out of this bed." She sat up, and felt a stab of pain from her wounds as she moved. In addition to the cuts and damage that Vader's lightsaber had caused, she was covered with bruises from the temple collapse. Rex placed hands on her shoulders and gently eased her back down. She did not put up a fight. "Ok, maybe I'm mentally ready, but not physically," She added, "not yet."

Hera took Ahsoka's hand briefly. "Don't push yourself too hard."

Ahsoka nodded, then her eyes fell on Ezra again. "I hear you found me." She said weakly. "Thank you."

He came over to stand near Hera and Kanan. "I'm glad you're okay, Ahsoka. But...how? How did you escape Vader?" Ezra and Kanan had tangled with Vader before, and it had been the scariest thing Ezra had ever done. How could Ahsoka do it alone? It was hard to imagine.

Kanan winced, wishing that Ezra hadn't asked that. It had been a question nagging at him before he knew, though, so he couldn't blame the kid. question

"That's a long story." She said softly, reaching out for Ezra's hand and giving it a squeeze. "It was more like the fight was stopped for us. The temple...it collapsed underneath us. I didn't see him again, but I know he escaped, probably as I did."

So. She wasn't going to let on that she knew who Vader really was. It probably didn't matter—the knowledge that Vader was fallen Jedi Skywalker couldn't change anything anyway, and it could only cause more hurt to Rex, who had been by his side during the Clone Wars.

"Excuse me." The voice of a med droid interrupted their reunion. "The patient needs to be assessed again now that she is conscious."

"We'll be back to see you tonight," Hera said, placing her hand on Ahsoka's shoulder briefly.

"I'm glad you're back." Ezra stepped back waiting for Kanan.

"Thanks Ezra." She murmured.

Kanan said nothing aloud, but Ahsoka heard his voice in her head. I'm glad you decided to fight.

Me too. She smiled at that, and watched as the Jedi was led out by Hera. She saw how the twi'lek covertly guided him by touch, brushing against his shoulder or taking his hand in her own and subtly navigating the unfamiliar territory. It was easy to see he would be okay with Hera's care.

"It's hard to leave." Rex murmured, more to himself, as he found he couldn't get his feet to move toward the door.

"I'll be right here." Ahsoka said with a hint of amusement in her voice. The droid made an impatient noise and it caused her smile to widen.

"Better get out of here before this rustbucket has a meltdown."

"All right, metalhead. I'm leavin'." Rex growled. Then he turned back to Ahsoka. "It just wasn't right...fightin' this rebellion without you."

She met his dark eyes and nodded, in understanding. "I wouldn't want to fight without you by my side, either."