POV: Anakin Skywalker

"Lord Vader," Palpatine said slowly, building his anger toward me. "Your pet has ejected herself from the Republic cruiser. She is in an escape pod heading for Mustafar. I will be on Coruscant awaiting your return. This base is nothing now. Do not come back here."

"Yes, my Master," I replied, bowing my head. I stood and turned to leave. I was hit with several bolts of lightning, throwing me against the far wall.

"Do not fail me because you love her. You can either bring her back or kill her. She must be taken care of at once."

"It... will be done," I replied through my teeth. I stood once again and made it out of the room this time. I ran to the landing bay and jumped into my starfighter.

Once I was in the cockpit, I closed my eyes. Palpatine wanted Ahsoka dead, but I didn't have the heart to kill her. She had betrayed us, but I still loved her. I opened my eyes and set the coordinates for Mustafar. Why was she going there in the first place?

My starfighter left the base and flew out into the Tatooine air, leaving the atmosphere and locking into the hyperspace ring.

The swirls of hyperspace enclosed me for a few hours until the controls beeped, indicating that I was nearing Mustafar. I sighed and pulled out of hyperspace. I saw the fiery planet beneath me. I unlocked myself from the hyperspace ring.

I manually flew down to the planet, entering the atmosphere and landing on a large platform of molten rock. There were several large rock formations that jutted out from the surface. I could feel Ahsoka's presence nearby. Oddly enough, it began to rain.

I opened the hatch and jumped out of my starfighter. The rain poured down on me as lightning stuck through the sky. I looked up, sensing that Ahsoka was higher above me. She was at the top of a large formation.

I was about to get back in my starfighter when it flew away from me, sliding across the platform and falling off the edge into the lava below. I looked up, wondering if Ahsoka had done that. I didn't see her, but it probably had been her.

I sighed and moved toward the large formation, grabbing at rocks that stuck out. I slowly made my way up, taking several minutes. As I neared the top, I noticed that the rocks I could grab onto were becoming fewer. There weren't very many at the very top. I grunted as I reached out further.

My hand made contact with the top. I swung my other arm over to the top and pulled myself up. I grunted as a small edge poked into my chest. I swung my legs over and stood up slowly. I balanced myself against a rock that was beside me. I stared at the ground for a moment to catch my breath before looking up. Ahsoka was standing across the formation with her back turned toward me.

"Ahsoka," I called out.

She didn't turn to face me, but she began to speak. "Are you... proud of me, Master?"

"Uh..." I stuttered momentarily. "Of course, Snips. Of course I'm proud of you."

"Then why did you never show me that you were. If you were proud, wouldn't you have stayed with the Jedi? No, I guess not. You decided to join the Sith," she said, turning toward me.

"Ahsoka, where are you going with this?"

She rolled her eyes, growing angrier by the moment. I could feel it building up inside of her. "Where am I going with this? I'm doing as I should. The question is, where are you going with this? Master Plo gave me reasons to not trust you, reasons that I thought were wrong. I began to think a bit and I realized that he was right about you. How could you do this, Anakin? You say that you're proud of me, but how can you be? You're a Sith Lord!"

"Ahsoka, what has gotten into you?"

"Master Kenobi told me how disappointed he was in you. That's quite a bit. Multiply that by a hundred and you've got my amount of disappointment."

"Ahsoka, listen to me. He has done something to you. Snap out of it! This isn't you, Ahsoka!"

"He has done something to me? Who are you referring to?"

"Obi-Wan! He's brainwashed you. You're turning against me."

"No one has brainwashed me, Master. I've turned against you because I had to."

She began to ignite her lightsaber. I stared at her in horror. She wasn't going to attack me. She knows that I love her...

She jumped into the air, coming down and hitting my saber with an amazing amount of force. She began swinging wildly. I managed to block and duck away from each blow. She kept coming back hard and heavy.

"I don't want to fight you, Ahsoka!" I yelled, feeling my heart breaking. She kept coming at me and I kept blocking her until she kicked my chest. I flipped backwards, landing on my chest. My lightsaber flew out of my hand and across the ground that was full of volcanic ash.

I kept my head lowered to the ground. I didn't want to hurt her. I never have. I've always loved her... I began to shed some tears while I was facing the ground.

She spoke again, "And now, the student will kill the Master!"

I didn't lift my head, but I reached out with my mechanical hand and pulled it to me. I needed to end this.

For a moment, I thought about everything that had just transpired. My feelings immediately became horrified, as did my expression. This was my premonition coming true. Everything I had seen had just come to be real. I heard her lightsaber swing through the air as she jumped to attack me again. I stood up quickly, putting my mechanical hand up toward her. I had a bit more Force in this hand...

I closed my fingers slightly, stopping her in the air. She released her lightsaber, dropping it a few feet to the ground. She clutched at her neck, trying to pry the invisible force from it. I was choking her.

Her feet began to squirm in the air, having no ground to place them on. I watched as her fury transformed into desperation. She was trying to find a way out of my grip.

Her eyes met mine for a brief moment, expressing the terror that I could feel inside of her. I saw her eyes closing slowly until her head fell backwards. I stared in horror at the display. She was in the air, not moving. I quickly brought her to me, pulling her limp body into my arms.

She was still alive, but I had almost killed her. She was unconscious now...

The rain continued to pour as I sat there, kissing her neck, hoping that she would come to soon. I felt terrible. I could have killed her... I would have if she hadn't met my eyes.

"Ahsoka," I whispered, tears beginning to form in my eyes. "I'm so sorry..."

I placed her on the ground, turning away from her. I placed my hands beneath me as I leaned forward, bowing my head. I closed my eyes, hearing the sound of the pouring rain and mentally torturing myself for what I had done to her.

If she didn't make it out of here alive, I was going to jump off of this – I was interrupted when I heard her coughing. I lifted my head to look at her. Her coughing caused her to lurch forward into a sitting position. She sat there, coughing a little more before I immediately jumped toward her, landing in a kneeling position in front of her.

I wrapped my arms around her tightly, pulling her close and letting her know that I was very sorry. I pulled back to look at her. She smiled at me and I returned it.

"Ahsoka, I am so sorry!" I gasped quickly. "I never meant to hurt you. I didn't want to."

"Calm down, all right?" she laughed. "I was stupid for doing all of that. I shouldn't have gone against you, even if Master Kenobi and Master Plo told me terrible things..."

"I'm sorry for becoming everything they told you I was."

"Ahsoka, come in. This is Master Kenobi."

She looked at me, afraid of what I was going to say. I nodded toward her wrist where the comlink was located. "Talk to him."

"Ahsoka here, Master."

"Where are you? I was just told that you weren't aboard the ship any longer."

"I was upset, so I jumped into an escape pod. I landed on Mustafar. Would you mind... coming to get me?"

"Master Plo is going to be very upset when he hears about this incident, but yes, we will come get you. He would never leave you behind on that planet."

"Thank you, Master Kenobi."

"You're welcome, Ahsoka. We didn't get too far, so we'll be there shortly."

She turned off the comlink and looked at me. "Master Plo is going to kill you."

"I kind of figured," I said, sighing and looking at the ground. She reached out toward me, pulling me back to her chest.

"I think Master Kenobi was taking the ship to Coruscant. Before I left, he and Master Plo said something about the Sith still being there. They want to destroy whatever is left."

"I'll help them."

"What? You can't. You're part of the Sith now, Anakin."

"Just because Palpatine calls me Lord Vader... Ahsoka, that doesn't make me a Sith. I'll help them. I'll trick him into thinking that I still pledge myself to his cause."

"What if he catches on to what you're planning?"

"He won't," I said, smiling weakly at her. "I'm good at hiding things."

I laid back onto the ground, resting against it, listening to the lava flowing beneath us. Ahsoka curled up into my side and threw her arm across my chest.

She closed her eyes and slowly drifted off into sleep. I watched the fiery sky burn as lightning pierced it. I loved feeling the rain hit my face. It washed away all of my worries. Ahsoka didn't want to kill me now. She was back to the same Ahsoka that she had always been.

I wrapped my arm underneath and around her, holding her close to me.

After several hours of lying in the rain, a ship flew overhead. That must be Obi-Wan. I watched it fly over us and land a short distance away.

I picked Ahsoka up in my arms, holding her close to me, and began to walk toward the ship. As I neared it, the ramp lowered and Master Plo and Obi-Wan ran down it. Master Plo ignited his lightsaber, charging at me. He was very close to hitting me before he realized that I was holding Ahsoka.

"Little 'Soka!" he gasped, looking at her. "What have you done to her?"

"Nothing," I replied, glaring at him. "Now, are you going to make me stand here in the rain while I'm holding her or do you want me to go dry her off?"

Master Plo deactivated his lightsaber and moved aside. Obi-Wan stared at me in disbelief. Ahsoka hadn't been lying about the disappointment that was rolling off of him either.

I walked up the ramp and entered the ship. I saw several Jedi glaring at me, but I didn't take it to heart. I knew that I deserved whatever they decided to do to me. I walked to the closest room and entered. I placed her on the bed and ran into the refresher, grabbing towels to dry her with.

As I ran back into the room, Master Plo and Obi-Wan were standing in the doorway. I began dry her montrals, lekku, and face with the towels. As I continued downwards, I heard Master Plo growl. By doing this, I hadn't meant to infuriate him. I was trying to help Ahsoka.

Her eyes opened slightly as I reached her waist. She looked at me and smiled. "Anakin."

I shushed her and kissed her lips, resulting in another growl from Master Plo. She sat up slightly, propping up on her elbows. "Where are we?"

"We're on the ship. You need to get out of those wet clothes, Ahsoka. Everything is pretty much dry..."

She looked to her right to see both masters standing in the doorway. Master Plo ran into the room, wrapping Ahsoka in a tight embrace. "Little 'Soka, I'm so sorry for upsetting you."

"It's okay, Master Plo," she whispered. "I forgive you."

"You're too forgiving," he said, turning to look at me. If it weren't for his mask, I would believe that he was glaring at me.

I felt Obi-Wan's hand rest on my shoulder. "Anakin, come with me. Ahsoka needs to get dressed. Master Plo," he said, turning toward Master Plo.

The three of us walked out, leaving Ahsoka in the room alone. I assumed that there would be something in there for her to change into.