All that Ahsoka knew was that she was falling, and fast.

Both her and Leia opened their mouths to scream, but they could not for the lack of oxygen in the narrow vents. As they continued to fall down the incline that Ahsoka had painstakingly climbed on her way to Obi-Wan's cell, they grabbed ahold of each other, fumbling in the dark. Ahsoka cheated a little and used the Force, grabbing ahold of Leia and firmly holding onto her.

By the time they reached the end of the incline, the two of them barely caught their breath and mustered the strength to crawl away. Ahsoka shushed Leia and carefully listened around, searching for guards, but it seemed like there was nobody guarding the other end of the vent. This surprised her, as she was sure Reva would have sent all of her security to look for Leia.

Unless...she didn't actually want to take her with them to Vader's Fortress, she thought to herself.

But why wouldn't Reva want to? After all, Vader had specially requested it. It would seem like the perfect opportunity for Reva to please him.

Shaking her head, she decided to put those thoughts on the backburner and focus on the situation at hand. She carefully guided Leia as they jumped down from the other end of the vent and made a run for it.

They were forced to duck down and hide behind some tables in the spice lab when someone went back to check on the laboratory equipment, likely keeping track of their inventory.

Once the person was gone, both of them ran out and reached Ahsoka's small rental speeder bike which she had loaned from a local dealership.

Leia marveled at the speeder bike, running her hands along it and staring at the engine wishfully as if she wanted to take it apart herself. Ahsoka smiled slightly and helped lift her into the front seat, strapping the helmet onto her chin. It was a little too large for her small head, but it would have to do. Leia protested that it was heavy and that she didn't need it, but Ahsoka chided her and remained firm on her stance. Leia sulked quietly as Ahsoka jumped onto the seat behind her and started the engine.

"How come you don't have to wear a helmet?" Leia frowned.

Ahsoka simply shrugged and pointed at her lekku. "I'd like to see a helmet that can fit these," she replied simply.

As the engine revved to life, Ahsoka immediately sped away and headed in the direction of the Rebel safe quarters that Bail Organa had arranged for her to stay at. Ducking behind an alleyway to change her appearance first, she switched her holomask belt back on and changed her form to that of a human woman with brown hair to make herself look more similar to Leia.

Leia's jaw dropped. "You have a holographic disguise!" she said excitedly. "I've seen Daddy use one too."

Wouldn't surprise me, Ahsoka chuckled. "Yes, although mine is not as powerful as his. It only lasts for a few hours at most."

Leia stared at her, still trying to process her new appearance. "What else can it do?" she demanded, eager to know. "Can you turn invisible?"

Ahsoka raised an eyebrow. "Nosy nosy," she chided her. "Less questions, more walking. Come on, we have somewhere to be."

Leia sulked, but allowed Ahsoka to take her hand. Together, the two of them walked together, hopefully passing as a mother and daughter. As they passed different people, a few of them checked Ahsoka out and began to wolfwhistle. Ahsoka paid them no mind. Leia stuck out her tongue at a few of them, causing them to become angry. Ahsoka made them walk faster in order to avoid the angry ones.

"Try not to provoke anyone," she warned Leia. "We don't want to call attention to ourselves. There aren't many humans in this part of the city, and we already stick out like a sore thumb."

Leia frowned. "Well if they didn't want me to stick my tongue at them, maybe they should've left us alone!" she replied.

Ahsoka sighed and conceded defeat, deciding to fight her battles. They soon arrived at the inn without any further disturbances. It seemed the Inquisitors were occupied and not currently patrolling the area, having received a thorough beating from a mysterious Jedi. Ahsoka pretended not to recognize the holograms of herself that were currently being shown to everyone.

The grumpy innkeeper accepted her credits without asking any questions and let them get settled in their room immediately. The quarters were pretty humble; a simple shower, two small beds, and a window overlooking the city, but Ahsoka felt relatively comfortable even if it wasn't quite fit for a princess.

As Ahsoka started preparing their beds for them, Leia sulkily picked at the nightshirt that Ahsoka had found for her and stared out the window. "Are you going to go back for him?"

Ahsoka flinched. Then, she caught herself and tried to gather her composure again.

"Tomorrow, I will get us a flight to the nearest neutral star system," she replied. "I believe MIO-1 and MIO-2 will be relatively safe, and there we will wait for further communication from your father. Once he has given us a sign, I will take you back to Alderaan."

However, Leia was not satisfied with this answer. "But what about Ben? Is he coming with us too?"

Ahsoka hesitated. "Master Kenobi...has chosen a different path than me," she said slowly.

"Are you going to let that stop you?"

Ahsoka closed her mouth. Leia continued to stare at her with wide eyes that seemed to pierce her all the way to the back of her mind. It made her want to shiver. She felt as if Leia was looking right through her.

"No," she found herself saying. "But...I don't know if it's what he wants or not."

Leia crossed her arms. "What he wants is stupid."

Ahsoka agreed silently.

"I don't care what my father says," Leia frowned. "I'm not going back home without Ben. Not until he's also safe."

Ahsoka felt her heart sink slightly.

I won't leave without Master Anakin! He's hurt. He needs me to protect him.

"I know how you feel," she said slowly, but Leia was not finished.

"He's your Master, isn't he?" she demanded. "You were his Padawan, and he taught you how to be a Jedi. Is that correct?"

"Well...not quite," Ahsoka admitted. "He was my Master's teacher. But he also took care of me."

Leia stared at her even more intensely. "But he still taught you."

"Yes."

"If you're a really Jedi, and he was really your Master, then you should be willing to do anything to save him. That's what a Jedi would do."

Ahsoka sighed. "I'm not a Jedi."

"Yes you are."

"No, I'm not," Ahsoka replied. "I left the Jedi Order a long time ago."

"Why?" Leia demanded.

"I had my own reasons." She sighed. "At the time, my Master...he tried to convince me to stay, that we could fix their problems together. But I declined. I told him I wanted to choose my own path."

She bowed her head sadly. "I still miss him, even now. I used to wonder what happened to him, all these years. Now I know..." She narrowed her eyes. "Maybe I shouldn't have left."

The two of them sat in silence for a few minutes. Leia decided to break it and spoke first.

"Does that mean you regret leaving?"

Ahsoka shrugged. "Kind of, kind of not," she admitted. "I thought it was the right decision at the time...perhaps I was wrong," she shuddered slightly. "But I could not have predicted what would happen to the Jedi. I was also in shock when I found out what...what Vader did to them," she muttered angrily.

Leia stared at her. Ahsoka coughed and sat up.

"I think it's your bedtime now, kiddo. Time to hit the hay."

"I don't wanna sleep."

"You have to," Ahsoka nudged her. "It's best to wake up early tomorrow, just in case we have to scram. You never know if someone might snitch on you and try to get you ambushed in the middle of the night."

Leia huffed and crossed her arms. Then, slowly, she asked again.

"Are you going to rescue Ben?"

Ahsoka turned away and finished spreading out the wrinkles in her pillow.

"I wish I could," she whispered regretfully.

Obi-Wan groaned quietly as Reva seized him by the shoulder that still had an open wound. "I can walk myself, you know," he pointed out. "It's my shoulder that's injured, not my legs."

Reva sneered at him, as if to convey that if she had her way, he would not have any legs at all. Clutching onto his dignity with both (shackled) hands, Obi-Wan did his best and followed after her as she dragged him by the chains hanging off his wrists As they left the spice lab and made their way to the spacecraft park outside, two of her minions flanked them on each side and kept their blasters pointed at his head.

Failure was not an option. Clearly, they did not want him to escape.

Deciding not to make things harder for himself than they already were, he obediently followed them onto the spacecraft and into the front cabin. Reva made a hand motion, and her minions all searched him for weapons and strapped him to one of the seats behind the pilot's cockpit without undoing his shackles.

Hm, seems like they really don't want me to use my hands, he frowned. Well, what if we end up in a crash and there is nobody else to pilot the plane? What then?

Once the goons were satisfied, they let go of him and surrounded Reva, awaiting further instruction. She ordered them to conduct a last-minute check of the ship's hyperdrive, navicomputer, engine, tank and controls. They even did a brief bomb check, just in case. Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow, surprised that for once, someone didn't want him to explode. However, given their situation, he was probably more valuable to them alive.

She really did think of everything, he observed.

Everything was in perfect working order. Nothing would stop them from reaching Mustafar now.

Finally satisfied, Reva sat down in the pilot's seat and motioned at her minions to leave. They all exited the spacecraft, leaving Reva and Obi-Wan by themselves.

Reva switched on the engine, and the spacecraft's propulsion jets roared to life. She slowly trailed her fingers across the dashboard, issuing commands to the navicomputer. He began to wonder if she was really going to input the coordinates in front of him when she pulled a lever. Obi-Wan felt his seat jerk upwards and gasped as he fell backwards. When the chair stopped moving, he found himself lying down almost completely horizontally while still strapped to the headrest of the chair.

"I'm afraid I can't have you looking over my shoulder while I input these coordinates," she drawled.

She really is growing to be more and more like her Lord everyday, he thought to himself with a grimace.

The seatbelt that Reva's minions had put on him was digging painfully into the wound on his injured shoulder. He forced himself to take some deep breaths, trying to push down the pain.

Reva finally finished entering the coordinates, and the navicomputer beeped loudly to indicate that it had completed its calibration process.

"Get ready," Reva grunted, and flipped the hyperdrive switch.

As the spacecraft shifted into lightspeed mode, Obi-Wan found it harder and harder to breathe. Being strapped down and forced to lie horizontally was constricting his lung capacity and causing nearly all of the blood to rush to his head. If he were a less proud man, he would have begged to be allowed to sit upright. He quietly groaned and sweat began to drip down his brow as he worked hard to forced oxygen back into his lungs.

"Are you uncomfortable, Obi-Wan?" Reva asked, her voice eerily calm.

With a jolt, Obi-Wan realized that Reva was still watching him.

For a second, he thought she was going to try to help him. Instead, Reva pressed down on a pedal, and the ship immediately jolted, causing Obi-Wan to gasp as he felt himself being thrown forwards in his seat. Indifferent to his troubles, the ship reoriented itself and continued on its planned trajectory, its speed now doubled. Obi-Wan felt himself begin to hyperventilate, as he found it even more difficult to breathe.

"Are you having difficulty breathing, Obi-Wan?" Reva asked again, her voice dripping with mock pity.

Obi-Wan closed his mouth and squeezed his eyes shut, determined to not let her know that her attempts to mess with his mind were working. Furious, Reva yanked the lever that controlled the angle of his seat and it threw him forwards again, causing the seatbelt to dig painfully into his upper chest. Obi-Wan groaned loudly, feeling an explosion of pain in his right shoulder.

"It hurts you, doesn't it?" Reva crooned.

Obi-Wan grunted loudly as he forced himself to slow down and take deeper breaths. Dignity be damned, all he wanted now was to keep breathing.

"The pain, it just never stops, never gets better...you think you're going to heal, but you don't," Reva drawled. "You never do."

What is she on about? Obi-Wan panted, feeling another twinge of pain blossoming near his lower thorax. He winced. It seemed as if one of his ribs might have gotten fractured when he got thrown at that wall.

"That is the pain of the Dark Side," Reva told him. "What you are feeling is just a small part of what every one of us feels."

The ship shook slightly, and Obi-Wan groaned. Nausea began to rise from inside of the pits of his stomach. He tried to concentrate on breathing so as not to throw up, but he could already feel acid building up and filling his mouth and nose.

Reva made no move to help him, and continued to watch him silently as he cried and yelled every time the spacecraft made a sharp turn or shifted its speed. After just a few minutes, he found himself sweating from head to toe and panting loudly, completely out of breath. At some point, he felt as if he might have vomited on himself, but he was too dizzy to care and could not really see clearly in front of him.

"Lord Vader has been preparing to see you," she informed him. He could barely register her voice over the loud pounding of blood in his ears, as he struggled to stay conscious. He was worried that if he fainted, he might not wake up again, not the way he would want to at least. "He's been very patient for you. You've kept him waiting for so, so long."

The ship jolted again and Obi-Wan forgot which direction was up, only knew that he wanted everything to stop.

"He's not too happy about that, you know."

His eyes were burning hot, as if someone had poured acid into them. Obi-Wan squeezed them shut and then opened them, blinking quickly, realizing that they were full of tears.

"What do you think you'll say to him if he asks you why?"

Still panting for air, Obi-Wan forced himself to take a deep breath and coughed shakily.

"How do you know Anakin's name?" he demanded, his voice trembling slightly.

Reva froze and for a few seconds, it felt as if the ship stood still, as if it was attuned to her emotions. Then, slowly her upper lip curved into a sneer. "Perhaps I am just that close to him," she hissed.

Obi-Wan could barely move his neck, but still, he mustered the strength and shook his head. "No. Vader is not close to anyone. The only person he trusts is the Emperor. You must have figured it out some other way."

Reva snarled angrily, and threw her lightsaber with a threatening swoosh at his head. Unable to duck or defend himself, he simply closed his eyes and let it hit him on the cheek, leaving a bruise as the heavy metal hilt scraped his skin.

"You became the Grand Inquisitor not a few hours ago," he observed. "I highly doubt Anakin would go around dropping his true name to a mere rookie."

Reva narrowed her eyes at him and made a grasping motion with her gloved hand. The seatbelt straps tightened even more, to the point that he was positive they would leave bruises, but at this point he could not be moved to care.

"The only people who would have had access to such confidential information have all died horribly," he noted. "And most of them were far, far older than you when it happened. I think you would have been a Jedi, but not an apprentice..."

Reva's eyes widened.

"If my calculations are not wrong...and they seldom are...you were once a Youngling," he observed.

Whatever Reva had been using to hold herself back finally snapped.

Snarling, she stood up from her chair and drew herself to her full height, towering above him. In that moment, he felt acutely aware of the fact that he was powerless and restrained, and that she had an extremely dangerous weapon capable of slicing off his head without any trouble and that she could do anything she wanted to do to him.

"Say that again," she spat furiously, seizing him by the collar and choking him. "I didn't hear you."

Obi-Wan coughed, feeling his oxygen supply dwindling faster and faster. "You were a Jedi," he panted. "A long time ago, you would have served as a padawan."

Reva growled angrily, her eyes suddenly taking on an eerie amber hue. "And you would have let me die regardless."

Raising her hand, she brought it high above his head, forcing him to watch as she closed each finger and made a fist. Obi-Wan coughed and gasped and instinctively struggled against his bonds, trying to free himself from the straps holding his hands together, but he could not break them.

"I may not have the tools that we use to interrogate prisoners of war with me," Reva narrowed her eyes, which were glowing an unfriendly, cold yellow. "But there are worse ways to die."

Obi-Wan watched slowly as she squeezed her fist and he felt the Force surround his throat, squeezing hard. He was finally going to die, killed by Vader's servant, just like every other Rebel who had the misfortune of crossing him.

He felt strangely at peace with his death, as if perhaps this was the way things were supposed to end. He stopped trying to distract himself, let his mind drift, let himself think about Anakin willingly.

In his mind's eye, he no longer saw a young boy with blue eyes. Instead, he pictured a young man with a face contorted with anger, his eyes corrupted with the same yellow light as Reva's.

I hate you!

Obi-Wan let himself be lost in that moment, surrounded by the scalding lava and suffocating ash. He let himself imagine that it was him, this time, being struck down by Anakin's lightsaber and left to die, as he should've been.

You'll finally getting everything you want, Anakin, he thought dizzily. Your revenge has finally been carried out. I am to be struck down by your servant, just as I once struck you down. Every one of my sins is finally catching up with me, including the ones I have committed against you. Just as everything should be.

He closed his eyes and prayed to the Force, thanking it, asking that his path might soon be completed, that his death would bring balance and peace to the one he had wronged.

But the Force would not let him die.

No, such a death was too easy for him to deserve it.

As the ship came out of hyperdrive, it stopped suddenly and jolted, not knowing what to do now that it was no longer hurtling through space at lightspeed. Reva yelled and stuck her arms out, barely catching her balance as it tipped almost ninety degrees during the slowdown. Obi-Wan reopened his eyes and peered out the window. Outside, he could see the distant shape of a scarlet red, violently smoking planet with thick black clouds surrounding its atmosphere.

Reva seemed to realize it at the same time, too. Sneering, she picked herself up and strode over to the cockpit, checking the navicomputer's estimations. "You're in luck. We've already arrived."

As they got closer and closer, the endless red lava terrain began to fall away and he could see the topmost point of the Empire's best kept secret. Hundreds of meters tall, perches atop of a treacherous lake that spat fire and ash, Fortress Vader stood tall and proud and menacingly, just like its master.

Obi-Wan closed his eyes. He now knew for sure that the path the Force had chosen for him would not be disrupted.

No one ever got into Fortress Vader, and no one ever got out.

This was the point of no return.