Start Note: Well, better late than never huh? Finally got around to this idea and its helped get me out of my writing slump. May have missed May the 4th but I made it in time for The Fifth Awakens and Revenge of the Sixth. Hope you all enjoy.
Kksssshhhh! Vrãu, vrãu! Ffffkrrrrshhzzzwooooom! The sound of lightsabers dueling and clashing each other echoed through the re-awakened Sith temple on Malachor. Lord Vader was impressed at this youngling's strength. He managed to unleash its hidden power and could hold his own. This display of skill posed a problem however: he was trained. That meant he was a threat, and other Jedi must be hidden somewhere. But it didn't matter, if he wouldn't submit to him and the Emperor, he'd finish his existence.
"I'm not afraid of you!" The young blue haired boy shouted in defiance. It had been ages since someone had the actual nerve to stand up to him. A part of him respected him; it even reminded him of….no, that person was dead. He made sure of it.
"Then you will die braver than most," he coldly replied. If he wouldn't turn, he'd at least grant him a swift death; he earned that much. The two continued to clash, but Vader overpowered the novice opponent; years of skill and experience trumped the energetic hope he had. The dark lord had split the younger foe's lightsaber, effectively leaving him unarmed. The boy's blue eyes widened, his heart raced, and his breath shortened. Vader recognized the expression: fear. A flash of a memory, of something eons ago played. Scared children looked at him, begging for help. He shook it off; that memory died with Skywalker. Vader had grown numb to the slaughtering, and the few lingering feelings of regret only powered his passion, his rage. The blue-haired boy simply stared at him; Vader only responded with pity. "Perhaps I was wrong." His arms moved to deliver the final strike.
"It wouldn't be the first time," a female voice interrupts. His attention turns to it; he finally sees her. She'd had grown much since last the time they spoke. Even though he felt her presence during the Siege of Lothal, having her physically facing me awoke something deep.
His body instinctually relaxes, no longer bothering with the kid lying on the ground., "It was foretold that you would be here. Our long-awaited meeting has come at last."
"I'm glad I gave you something to look forward to," she quips back. There's the snippiness he remembers; she's still the same at her core. The light in him that died began to fight back. Her presence…help soothe the demon he had become.
He disignites his lightsaber, and reaches a hand out to her, "We need not be adversaries, the Emperor will show you mercy if you tell me where the remaining Jedi can be found." Palpatine wasn't one for mercy, but it didn't matter. He had a chance to overthrow him with her by his side. He didn't care about the rest of the remaining Jedi, at the moment. He could hunt them down or convert them later. Right now, he had a chance to bring her back into his life.
"There are no Jedi! You and your Inquistors made sure of that," she spat out. He grew irritated; she was as stubborn as she always was.
Vader turned back to the boy, "Perhaps this child will confess what you can not." He knew she was compassionate; too compassionate even for the old Jedi order. He knew how to bait her.
"I was beginning to believe I knew who you were, behind that mask," the Torgutan furrows her brows, "But it's impossible. My master could never be as vile as you." This wounded the light inside the Sith Lord. She couldn't recognize him as the same man he once was.
However, Vader used this pain to his advantage, fueling his spite. "Anakin Skywalker was weak. I destroyed him." The orange-skinned female grimaces, wincing from the sorrow of seeing her former Master having fallen so low.
That sorrow soon turns to fury; she scowls at him, "Then I will avenge his death."
The light inside Darth Vader regained some of his strength; it had a bit of a pained laugh. The Sith Lord shakes his head bittersweetly, "Revenge is not the Jedi way."
She stares him down, not backing off, "I am no Jedi." She ignites her twin lightsabers; they're white. Vader draws his sword again; she's not to be underestimated. She lunges towards him and assaults him with a barrage of strikes. He parries them, but he's impressed that she's able to keep up. This battle was going to be fun.
Vader made his way back to the temple's core. The energy inside of it was starting to overcharge, threatening to collapse and overflow. He forced pushed Ahsoka down off an edge; he didn't have the heart to kill her. The bond between them still existed; Skywalker still had influence over him. He would take out his frustrations on the kid left behind. Who knows, maybe he'd slaughter his master too if he found him in time. Much to his luck, he was met upon the site of an older masked man hunched over the boy. He hulks towards them, his anger taking over once more. Suddenly from behind, he hears an exasperated shout as a figure flies at him. He's too slow to react; the Torgutan lands a blow to his face, cutting the mask. He cries out in pain and surprise as they both tumble to the ground.
"Ahsoka, come on!" the boy yells out to her. The female warrior grunts and begins to get up. Ahsoka….hearing her name sparks something again within Darth Vader.
Through the agony of breathing without his life support system, he wheezes out, "Ahsoka…" Her eyes widen; she recognizes his voice. Her head snaps towards him. He turns his head to gaze at her; free from the red filter of the helmet. "Ahsoka," he calls out to her again.
Her eyes soften as a mix of relief and agony come out in her voice, "Anakin." He was back; for some miracle of the Force, he was back. He wasn't the same person as before, his soul being clouded in the dark side, but she finally could feel him. The light inside Vader roared louder than it had in more than a decade; it made him find the strength to stand up. There they both stood, gazing at each other, for what seemed like eternity. "I'm won't leave you. Not this time," she states firmly to him.
"Not this time", her voice echoes in his mind. She abandoned him before, didn't she? She left him alone when she left the Jedi Order. She left him alone when she went to Mandalore and let him fall to Sidious's plan. She left him alone when she cut herself off from the Force; leading him to believe she was dead all this time. Anakin became consume by his grief, by his feelings of abandonment, and by his resentment. Vader once again took full control and embraced the darkness coursing through his veins. She wouldn't hurt him, she wouldn't abandon him again; or at least he'd die trying.
His body tensed, as his pupils dilated; there was no going back now. He ignited his lightsaber once more, "Then you will die."
End Note: There's something beautifully tragic about Anakin and Ahsoka's relationship. Even more when you consider her dialogue in the Mandalorian believing that Anakin died as Vader and never got redeemed. Still, thank you for reading and I haven't forgotten about my other works, I just been kinda running on low energy. But this helped get a bit of a spring back in my step. Have a good day/night.