A/N: Hello everyone! Welcome back; I am thrilled to be able to give you this quick update. Thank you so much to everyone who read, followed, faved, and especially REVIEWED. You guys keep this fic going.

By the way, Shadows of the Past and Atonement were written as companion pieces for this fic. They are canon in it's context, along with the flashbacks in Road Less Traveled By (So, the way Anakin first used the Force, the way his and Obi-Wan's friendship started out, etc.)

A quick note before I move on to reviews: The title of this fic is changing. I always hated it, it was originally a placeholder, and I have thought of a better title. The weird tag-on will disappear soon; I didn't want to confuse anyone.

Guest: No, thank YOU! But still, you're welcome! Have a chapter. kyuubi7: I mean… she's not wrong. The Jedi Order is kind of a mess. And literally everyone who betrayed her is dead now, so why not come back? I think the Kaminoans probably can clone limbs, skin, etc, but the cost would be prohibitive, they are way out past the Outer Rim in Wild Space, and they are still very, very much under Imperial control. MossyMeow: I am honestly convinced that the only reasons Luke isn't dead is because A. He lives in a post-Inquisitor world and B. Sidious wanted him alive. At no point in either of their duels was Vader trying to kill him. On Bespin, he tried to herd Luke toward the carbonite machine, then attempted capture when that didn't work. On the death star, the goal was to turn Luke to the dark side, not kill him, and Anakin didn't want to hurt him anyway. Luke was wide open by every standard of lightsaber dueling for most of that fight. Don't worry, Luke's going to get some help with his technique. Oh, and we are going to get into the reasons (In my opinion, but this is my fic, so there) that Anakin turned back to the light. Alfa123: Here's more! THEguitarist117: First of all, thank you so much! You have no idea how much your review encouraged me to work on this chapter. And, well, spoilers, but yes, there is a lot of great Anakin/Han nerd interaction in this fic. DarthRaptor22: I agree! And thankfully you didn't have to wait three years for this one. MariaRose: Well, here's the next step…

I do not own Star Wars, its associated properties, or its characters. Disney needs to give them to Filoni.

Chapter 13

"Don't worry, I have it memorized." Ahsoka had said.

She had had a strange expression when she gave him the disk. Stranger still was her seeming reluctance to finally hand it over, as if it was something far more precious than any holo had a right to be.

They had parted after that: Ahsoka to who-knew-where and Luke back to his quarters.

He hesitated, but finally inserted the disk.

"Hello, Ahsoka." A young man with long blond hair and a kind, handsome face popped suddenly up from the projector. A Jedi, Luke thought, from the lightsaber he wore. "Listen, I know you're upset that you don't get to come along this time, but don't worry, we'll be fine. Just think of this as… unexpected leave."

It was strange to see this recording, like a snapshot of a past world that he had never been a part of. It was strange to think that this person was almost certainly dead.

"While I'm gone, I want you to practice this form. I have been working hard on it, and I think it will be a great help to you next time we're in the field." He looked stern but concerned; like a parent might. "We don't want a repeat of what happened last time, now do we?"

Luke studied the man carefully; somehow the voice sounded familiar.

"I was Anakin's apprentice back in the Republic." Ahsoka had said.

Was that his father? He thought of the depressed, ruined creature that remained, and wondered how such a complete change could be possible. He looked like a different person entirely, even a different species.

"Moving on. Keeping your saber moving is key to deflecting the fire of multiple adversaries. Fluid motion; one into the next, and the next, and so on. I've made some… adjustments to the classic Form 4 techniques that I think you'll find work well against droids and other ranged attackers. Here, I'll show you."

His lightsaber lit, and he swung it down, blocking a shot from a preprogramed target droid off-screen "One."

The lightsaber swung in a bright, precise arc, ending on the other side.

"Two"

Up now, slightly faster, as if he was slowing himself down for purposes of demonstration and having trouble with it.

"Three"

Another arc, this one upwards to turn the weapon over behind him.

"Four"

Back to a similar position to the previous, as if going backwards around a circle.

"Five"

Another upward arc, to the other side.

"Six"

Down now, blocking his face.

His father ran through the exercises several more times, speeding up or adding embellishments on each interation, before turning back to the camera.

"Practice these exercises mindfully and you'll see improvement, I promise. I'll test your progress when I get back." He paused, smiling lovingly at the camera. "Don't worry, little one. I'll see you soon."

The holo blinked off, and Luke found himself feeling… strangely empty. Had that been his father once? That man seemed… happy, innocent, even carefree. He seemed to have no inkling of the horrible future that awaited him.

Luke pressed a button to watch it again.

As she hesitantly gave Luke the only link she had had to her master for twenty years, Ahsoka tried to remind herself why she was doing this. It had been such a comfort in those years of loneliness. She would put it on in the background of whatever she was doing and if she ignored the words it was almost like having him back again, almost as if their lives hadn't fallen apart. She sometimes even just kept it paused, a way to talk to him when she needed his advice, or even just needed him to listen.

But she didn't need it anymore. What she told Luke was true, she had it memorized, burned into her memory from a thousand repeat viewings. Luke needed it far more than she did; he needed to see his father as he had been before, separate the man from the suit or his current pitiable condition.

Besides, she had the real thing now.

After her meeting with Luke, Ahsoka went directly from her quarters to the medbay. Anakin was in a medicated coma now, an effort to let his body rest and heal somewhat from the surgery before forcing it to take any additional stress. It would be several weeks before he woke up, assuming of course that there were no complications and he lived through his ordeal.

The woman's fingers brushed against the door as she tried not to think of that possibility. She could feel him inside: hurting, wounded, frightened, but that was the way he always felt now and he was not in any current danger. She desperately wanted to see him, to ascertain that he was safe, but she could not. Apparently, it was important to maintain a sterile environment for now, and consequently no one was allowed inside but limited numbers of droids.

So instead she sat down with her back to the door and started to speak, talking to him as she had once addressed his image. "Hey." She sighed, pulling her knees in toward her chest, her arms automatically wrapping around them. "I'm back. Your plan worked; they reacted exactly the way you said they would. I mean, I suppose you would know; it's probably all Imperial regulations after all. It did get a little dicey toward the end, but we managed." She paused. "Luke is fine. I know you'll be happy to hear that." A slight, proud smile graced her lips. "I wish you could have seen him. His skills are hardly legendary, but for the amount of training he has had… he's incredible. He held his own and helped me get us out there. I don't know what I was doing after three months; I don't think I even spoke basic yet. Granted I was three, still…" Ahsoka trailed off, unsure. There was so much that she wanted to say; so many fears and worries that she needed his advice on, but somehow just talking without response wasn't enough anymore. She felt like a child again, lost and unsure, waiting for her Master to come and show her the way.

"Hey."

She finally looked up to find Rex standing over her. He continued, "You decided to come here too, I see."

Ahsoka remained silent and Rex groaned as he lowered himself to the floor. "I'm going to have to get a bench put in here. I'm 36; I can't do this stuff anymore."

"How much did you hear?"

"Nothing." The clone looked over at her, his brow creasing as he noticed the distress on her face. "Why? What's wrong?"

"I don't know how to do this. I've never trained anyone; I never even became a knight. I failed; I left! And now… Luke wants me to train him, and so does Anakin. I don't… what if I ruin everything? Luke has some leeway, Anakin doesn't. What if I make a mistake?"

"You won't. Listen, I may not be Jedi, but I know what a good one looks like. And believe me, any padawan would be lucky to have you for their Master. Luke knows it, I know it, and I know for a fact that the General knows it. You have no idea how proud he is of you."

He paused, smiling fondly at her, "Go on, General Tano. I'll stay with him for a while."

Ahsoka smiled at him, then finally stood up to leave, feeling more confident and ready. Some Jedi needed the Order or even the Force itself to tell them they were knights, for Ahsoka, Rex was enough.

Luke was appreciative, hardworking, and a quick learner, but impatient, and as Anakin had said was too sure of his own skills. He was eager to move on; he wanted to learn the skills she had displayed on Gamorra, and she knew telling him that he would cut his own arm off if he tried it would be pointless.

They were in a large training room on the command ship. There was a large space in the center, with ranged mannikins and other equipment, and there were some bleachers against the wall for seating. Ahsoka had decided to start him on the basics of Form 1, doing the same exercises she had done as a small child. The movements were a bit simplistic, but Luke had a few fundamental root issues with his saber handling and it was an easy Form in which to identify and fix them.

Unfortunately, he had some other ideas.

"Look. I know this. This is the exact same thing Obi-Wan showed me the first time I trained."

She was willing to confess that she was starting to lose some of her own patience. "Good. Then you know the steps."

Instead of taking the hint her new apprentice switched off his lightsaber and turned to face her. "Ahsoka, I fought Vader twice and defeated him once. I can do more advanced work than this."

Anakin had once been asked to replace a literal god, to be trained to spend the rest of a nearly immortal life controlling other gods. She was fairly certain Luke and his mediocre lightsaber skills had not beaten him.

How would Anakin have handled this?

He probably would have gotten annoyed and told her to get to work. She had already tried that and it had simply led to more frustration.

What about Obi-Wan?

She thought about him, about all the times that he had tried to help her. Understanding, explanation, proof, not orders.

She tried to imagine how Luke might be feeling. He didn't know how Jedi training was generally structured, and he probably didn't understand what she was trying to teach. He felt that she was being condescending and simplistic, refusing to teach him according to his ability.

She sat down on the bleachers, asking the boy to sit beside her.

Show, don't order.

She spoke as gently as she could. "Luke, what happened in those fights?"

"What do you mean?"

"You mentioned two duels. What happened in the first one?"

Luke paused. "Well I… I arrived on Besbin, and Vader tried to freeze me in carbonite. I escaped and hid briefly. Then-"

Ahsoka broke in. "Why?"

"Why did I hide?"

"Why did Vader try to freeze you?" She stopped short of explaining herself. Luke needed to figure out for himself that they had never had a fight where Anakin was trying to kill him, or even win.

Luke stopped to think, his brow wrinkling like his father's. "I suppose… maybe he was going to bring me back to the Emperor?"

"Why?"

"What do you mean? I am strong with the Force. On the death star the Emperor even tried to make me his apprentice."

"All right, go on. How did the fight end?"

"Um… I held my own for a while, but he backed me off a walkway and cut off my hand." The boy looked down as if ashamed, "Then he told me he was my father and I fell down a garbage chute." He paused. "I escaped when Leia and Han showed up with the Falcon."

Yep. Sounded about right. Ahsoka suppressed any reaction to the Skywalker drama. "You said you won the second fight?"

"Yeah! I did. I had him on the ground, with his right hand off. And, um… wait." He paused, thinking, and Ahsoka guessed she was finally getting somewhere. "The Emperor wanted me to replace Father as his apprentice. Why would he try to make us kill each other?"

Ahsoka sat silent, waiting for him to work it out himself. Luke wasn't accustomed to analyzing duels, for understandable reasons. "Father was on the defensive the entire fight, except when I ran. Then he… he antagonized me into attacking and went on the defensive again." Something dawned in the boy's eyes. "He wasn't fighting me. He was supposed to turn me, then be killed. Oh blast. Oh kriff." Luke's head dropped into his hands as he realized exactly what had happened on the death star.

The woman laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Sidious liked to do that. He liked for his apprentices to kill each other. I guess in his sick mind it maintained the Rule of Two." She paused. "He had Anakin kill the one before him."

The boy's head came back up to look into her eyes. "There were others?"

"At least two more that I know of. I don't know how many before that."

Luke was silent. "I never could have beaten him in a real fight, could I?"

Ahsoka shook her head.

They sat silent for a minute, then Luke sighed. "Okay. I'm ready."

He got back up and went back to drills.

She spoke as he ran through the motions, "Keep your hands centered. Imagine a line running straight up the center of your body. With a few exceptions, your hands should not leave that line."

"A lightsaber is a light weapon, not a broadsword. There is no need to hack with it. It requires finesse, not brute strength."

"Constant, fast movement is vital. Always remember that you are a melee fighter going up against ranged weapons. Speed, seamless fighting and your enhanced knowledge of your environment through the Force are your greatest allies."

"Yes, I'll show you the 'spinny thing.' Later, when you are ready for it. For now we need to focus on your grip. Hold it, don't strangle it. You may gain security, but you lose versatility and speed."