Chapter 21 - Next (END)

I gasp as she smiles at me.

"Ahsoka, it has been awhile."

Barriss eyes seem to look through me, and her eye sockets look purple with restlessness. Her skin is pale and thin, a nearly translucent skin over her body. Her clothes drape over her body in pure black folds of long cloth, and her hood stays fixed to her forehead with a diamond-shaped silver plate. She wears grey stormtrooper armor over her shoulders and chest, and a large black shoulder plate denotes her rank.

"I've missed you," she taunts, swinging her lightsaber in a circle.

"But you're supposed to be dead," I stutter.

"Lord Vader saw my potential. He cancelled my execution, and made me his inquisitor. I've been looking for troublemakers. Like you."

"You will do well to stay out of our way," snarls Ventress.

Barriss just snickers as she points her weapon at Ventress' neck.

"Would you like to repeat that?"

"Those are mine," she roars as she whips out her gun, and begins to fire.

Energy surges through my body at the speed of light. Not a moment passes when Barriss is already defending herself, expertly beating back the lasers to Ventress, hitting her with each one. Lines between reality and hyperbole blur. Blood oozes from the slices and punctures of each wound, and her breathing slows and becomes raspy.

"I'll kill you," she screams.

Barriss says nothing, she only stabs her saber through Ventress' chest.

A soft croak escapes her mouth, and her eyes cloud over. Instinctually, my arm flings out in the direction of Barriss, and lighting surges, the pop and static of it flowing through the air and making its contact with her skin. Her body cringes back, and a shrill scream rings out, but not from her. This scream is mine. I hear no sound as Barriss' knees give out and she crumples to the ground, lifeless. Ventress draws a final breath, and falls, the fabric of her cloak cascading down in a black waterfall, crashing to the cold rock floor below.

Time stops when her last breath stops. For a moment, there is no Empire, there is no massacre. There is only us. Us three, once apart, brought together by war, drawn apart by pride. Three like souls. And only one that still draws breath.

Ventress' eyes clear as her body settles, the pale violet skin clearing to white. Barriss' eyes lose their yellow ring as she dies, and peace returns to their once troubled black.

My knees strike the floor hard when I fall. My breath comes in short gasps, and I exhale with a croak.

Warm tears spill over my cheeks as I stare at my friends, killed by my own pride. Grace guides my hand to close their eyes, gently sliding their eyelids. When their eyes are closed, they look like they're sleeping. But the blood from Ventress' wounds stain her clothing.

A loud moan escapes the confines of my chest, ripping through the peaceful air.

Goodbye my friends.

May the force be with you.

When I finally leave, I'm greeted by the third sunset of the day, the last one. Hot rocks crackle beneath my boots, and sparks fly upwards with every step.

I realize now, with the new streams of tears rushing down my face, the truth.

There are more of us out there.

I have to find them before he does.

Author's note

Yes, this is the end of Ahsoka Alone, and I have really enjoyed writing this story for you guys. I hope this last chapter wasn't too bad, even though it was short, I felt this was the best place to stop. I may revisit the series and cover the bits between the end of this book and season 2 of rebels, but I can't say for sure. As reference for those of you out there who are Star Wars Movie purists, this story takes place during revenge of the Sith, and leads up to the year just after revenge of the Sith, and there are still about eighteen years until the beginning of a new hope, or even rogue one.

If you have feedback for my story, please, comment, review, send me a message, whatever, I want to know!

Also, I have character designs for my original characters, if you'd like to see them, let me know, and I may post them to my Wattpad or Deviantart account.

This is not the end of my time on Fanfiction.

Thanks for your loyalty and commitment.

Kitty Greene