Neither Ahsoka nor Vader moved.

For a few minutes, all they did was look at each other. The only light in the room was coming from their lightsabers, one red and two a blazing pure white. Ahsoka kept her blades crossed together and remained in a defensive stance with her knees bent, despite the pain it was causing to her ankles. However, she did not change position, as it could mean the difference between life and death.

Vader stared back at her, still holding his lightsaber in his left hand but not attacking with it.

Ahsoka inhaled shakily. Her arms began to tremble with the effort of standing still, but she forced herself to stay in place.

Then, for the first time, Vader finally spoke to her.

"You're alive."

She shuddered internally. So he does recognize me, she thought to herself uneasily.

"I thought you died." His voice was eerily calm, automatically reduced in emotive capacity by the vocoder of his mask, but Ahsoka did not let down her guard.

"No thanks to you," Ahsoka sneered. "If you didn't order the clones to kill all of the Jedi, I wouldn't have been forced to hide my identity and fake my death." She felt a sharp prick of pain in her left ankle and winced slightly, hoping Vader hadn't noticed.

But there was no way of knowing. He continued to stare at her, his expression unreadable.

"A miscalculation on my part," Vader replied neutrally. "Had I known, I would have sent for you myself."

Ahsoka inhaled sharply.

The fourteen year old in her wanted to believe.

The twenty-eight year old knew better.

"You are lying," she retorted.

"I have no need for lies."

Ahsoka began to feel dizzy.

Perhaps it was the pain in her ankles messing with her mind, or the inherent horror of fighting her own former Master that was starting to affect her. But as she tried to breathe and maintain a level head, she only felt more and more nauseous and disoriented.

She wanted to look to Obi-Wan for support, but he was behind her, and she did not dare to take her eyes off of Vader.

"We need not be adversaries. You understand well the evils of the Jedi," Vader continued, and he took a step towards her. Ahsoka faltered back, accidentally lowering her lightsabers, but Vader did not attack her. Instead, he continued to walk slowly towards her. "You are not one of them. I sense a deep, emotional turmoil from within you...a true Jedi would not have such conflicts."

Ahsoka inhaled sharply and began to feel sweat drip down her brow.

"Do you know what I see? I see fear. Doubts. Weakness."

Ahsoka winced.

It was as if he was peering into her soul, probing the deep recesses of her mind, unveiling unwanted information that she had never wanted to see the light of day.

Fear.

It was fear that had always haunted her, forcing her draw back from the person she loved the most in the world as if hastily pulling her hand away from a fire.

Not a fear of death, but a fear of living.

Fear of waking up to find that all her loved ones had been killed in a raid.

Fear of growing attached to a fellow soldier and receiving news that they had died in a battle.

Fear of forming a relationship with someone she loved, only to discover that she would be the one to lead them to their downfall.

Fear of striking down a man in the name of justice and realizing that she had just killed her own brother.

Ahsoka breathed shakily, feeling nauseous. Her vision began to blur, and she started having difficulty keeping eye contact with Vader as he constantly circled her, continuing to make her dizzy. His mask made her uncomfortable to look at, but she still tried to keep up with him, even though everything about him was unnatural to her. She did not recognize him with his prosthetic limbs, nor did she feel a connection to the red lightsaber in his left hand. Everything about the situation felt so, so wrong.

"Of course, you have not let yourself be claimed by the Dark Side. Not yet. But I see your destiny. A Jedi cannot live with conflict in their heart, just as a Sith cannot live with love in their heart. If you continue down this path, you will only bring destruction and misfortune to the ones you love."

Vader looked at her, and suddenly she became overwhelmed with a heavy feeling of grief and anguish. A million voices began to scream in her head, unleashing the dark thoughts that she had tried to suppress, all for the sake of holding onto what little scraps of a life she had left.

You are the reason that the Jedi Order collapsed. Because of you, Master Kenobi and Anakin suffered and nearly died, instead of returning home and living the lives that they deserved.

You are weak, Ahsoka, not because of your injury but because you left the ones you loved in their time of need.

You will never be able to erase that sin, to run away from that path.

You have no right to tie yourself to her, because in your heart of hearts, you should know that to love her would be to lead her to death.

You know better than to try and steal happiness that you do not deserve. She will pay for your selfishness.

Ahsoka's breathing began to increase rapidly. She panted. The muscles in her ankles were sore and raw from the tension of remaining in a fighting stance. Her legs felt as if they would give way any moment now.

I don't know how much longer I can handle this.

Suddenly, she felt someone touch her gently on the shoulder. She turned around and realized Obi-Wan had put his hand there. Her arms were trembling, and he had reached out to still them. She silently nodded at him, thanking him.

Just then, she heard Vader's booming voice again as he emerged from the shadows.

"Look at me."

Ahsoka looked away, refusing to obey. Behind her, she could feel Obi-Wan tensing up.

"I said, look at me," Vader commanded again, his helmet lit up by the dangerous red glow of his lightsaber.

Ahsoka squeezed her eyes shut.

She could feel him, attempting to use the Force to influence her. She was no stranger to this sort of mind manipulation, although none of the people who had tried to use it against her were this adept at it. His command of the Force was impressive. She was not sure if even she, a strong-minded person who had been trained by the Jedi, would be able to withstand it.

However, the more he tried to muddle her mind, the more sure she became of her decision. She was no longer held back by lingering loyalties to the man she once regarded as her brother. That man she once knew was nowhere to be found. In his place was a robotic masked figure that only knew anger and hatred. A dead man, kept alive by wires and circuits and motherboards.

And she had no obligations to this monster.

Vader raised his hand, making grasping motions with his fingers. He was trying to lure her down to his level, to drag her down into the same darkness as him, to convince her to strike a blow against the very man she was protecting. But she refused. With most of her physical strength drained, all she could rely on was her own will and mental fortitude.

But I'm not sure if it's going to be enough.

"LOOK AT ME, AHSOKA."

"NO!" She screamed and slashed at him with both lightsabers.

Vader countered it with the red lightsaber in his right hand. She tried to apply more force to break his block, but he was too strong, would not let go. Instead, he stepped forward and began to apply pressure, suddenly forcing her to lean backwards as he loomed over her.

"Interesting," Vader hissed, leaning in until all she could see was the eyes of his mask. "These are not the lightsabers that I recall giving you."

Ahsoka gasped and he used the opportunity to strike at her. Panicking, she automatically backflipped out of the way and winced as she landed on her weak ankles. Normally, she would be able to withstand at least a few tries, but they hurt from driving all the way to Mustafar and holding defensive stance for so long. The tension from the position had put too much of her weight on them and nearly torn the connective tissues.

"You didn't give those lightsabers to me," she panted. "My Master did."

Vader attacked again, swinging hard at her with his right hand. Ahsoka yelled out loud and blocked it with her two lightsabers, grimacing from the physical effort it took to hold up against Vader's strength.

"Your Master was weak. He was held back by his attachments."

Ahsoka narrowed her eyes at him.

"To whom, Anakin?" Ahsoka snarled. "To Master Kenobi? Or to me?"

In response, Vader gripped his lightsaber with both hands and slashed at her head. Ahsoka ducked and swiped at his feet, trying to trip him. Although he clearly could not jump because of the prosthetic limbs, he evaded her kick easily and swung at her leg. Ahsoka rolled out of the way and panted, trying to catch her breath.

"Do not call me by that name," Vader spat. "That man is long dead. I killed him."

Ahsoka's mind immediately went blank.

All her training, meditation, and years spent reflecting on her own suddenly felt as if they had been thrown away and were replaced by an urge to take.

She screamed and lunged at him, swinging both lightsabers. Vader caught both of them with his blade and swung it to the side, easily throwing her onto the ground. She got back up and sprinted at him with intent to stab, but he aimed for her legs and forced her to jump out of the way, putting further strain on her ankles as she landed. He spun his blade in a quick circle, aiming for her head, but she bent over backwards and then swung back at his unprotected side with both blades. Vader spun out of the way and countered one after other with a flick of the wrist.

She knew that she was wasting her energy, wasting her stamina, that the fighting style she was using was detrimental to her body given the state it was in. Anakin had drilled it into her head for hours and hours. Good technique leads to good results. Bad technique leads to getting injured.

But she didn't care about that anymore.

With a renewed strength, she ran at Vader and Force-jumped into the air, using her momentum and the force of gravity to increase the force of her blow as she swung at him, leaning fully on the blade. Vader saw it coming and swung at her incoming blade with both hands, causing her to be flung backwards through the air. She backflipped again and landed on her feet, then charged towards him again, swinging at his waist. He simply stepped aside and aimed a blow at her back. She was forced to throw herself forwards and duck in order to avoid being chopped in half.

Ahsoka.

Ahsoka.

What are you doing? You know this isn't the right way to fight.

This isn't how you were trained, Ahsoka!

Operating purely on adrenaline, she flipped her blades backwards and drove them downwards. Vader angled his arm sideways and pressed back against them, pushing hard. Ahsoka grunted, but she could feel him pushing her entire weight. It became a fight between flesh and metal, arm and prosthetic. The mechanical arm won and he shoved her off. She fell back and panted loudly, trying to catch her breath.

"You are courageous, attempting to take me on without any assistance," Vader said calmly. "Your anger would make you an excellent Sith Apprentice. However, I'm afraid your stubbornness and unwillingness to let go will be your downfall."

Ahsoka growled, pushing herself up and trying to get back on her feet.

Growing angrier and angrier, she yelled out in frustration and chased after him, trying to hit his helmet. Vader blocked her first swing and when she attempted to land a blow on him using the second lightsaber, he simply reached out with his right hand and stretched out his palm, using the Force to paralyze her arm.

Ahsoka grunted, trying to will her arm to do what she wanted and strike him, but the crushing weight of the Force squeezing her made it impossible to move. She was in a precarious position, unable to move both of her arms, her ankles about to give out from the stress she was putting them under. Vader simply moved his free hand and she crumpled to the floor, panting.

"You are injured," Vader observed. "You should give up soon, if you do not wish to hurt yourself."

"I'm not letting you kill Master Kenobi," Ahsoka growled. In response, Vader swung at her head, causing her to automatically backflip again and land painfully on her feet. As she winced, trying to recover from the explosion of pain in her ankles, he marched over to her and cruelly kicked her with his metal leg. She let out a bloodcurling scream.

Obi-Wan rushed to her side, trying to help her. She pushed him off, refusing him.

"Ahsoka," he whispered, panicked. "You don't have to do this for me."

Her legs were trembling too, now. From the effort of holding her weight.

"Give me the lightsabers, Ahsoka," Obi-Wan murmured quietly.

"You told me you had no intention of fighting."

"I know. But I can't let him kill you."

"I can't let him kill you either." Ahsoka raised her arm and made a flicking motion with her wrist. Obi-Wan let out a yelp of surprise as he was forcibly pulled far away from the fight, landing softly on the ground several feet away from them. Having no lightsaber of his own, he was quickly swallowed by the darkness.

Ahsoka resumed fighting stance and made eye contact with Vader.

"Your devotion to Kenobi is ill-placed," Vader declared. "What makes you think he would lift a finger to save you?"

Ahsoka looked up and made eye contact with him, refusing to be intimidated by a faceless helmet.

"That's the difference between him and you," she replied coldly. "Obi-Wan would kill himself, if it meant protecting others from you."

"Obi-Wan is selfish," Vader snarled. "He left me to die. When I begged him for mercy, he cut off all my limbs and threw me into the lava, the same lava that formed the very grounds we are standing upon. He abandoned me, Ahsoka."

Ahsoka inhaled shakily.

"This man would cut down and kill anyone if it meant ensuring his own peace. He doesn't have the capacity for mercy, Ahsoka. Not even for you or me. No one is good enough for him."

Ahsoka cut back a sob. "That's not true," she screamed. "You're lying!"

"It is," Vader growled back. "If you could open your eyes, you too would see that he has never cared for us. We were only his cannon fodder, another stepping stone to further his career in the Jedi Council. That is all we meant to him."

"You're wrong!" Ahsoka yelled, and Vader finally lost his patience.

"Fine, then," he hissed. "If you will not join me in the Sith, then you shall join me in death."

Immediately, he lunged and swiped at her lower ankles with intent to cut as opposed to dismember. Ahsoka howled with rage and pain as she felt her achilles tendon being severed in half, reopening her injury. She crumpled over and her lightsabers fell to the ground, automatically switching off and starting to roll away from her. One of them broke into pieces, clearly already on its last leg. Before she could reach out and pick them back up, Vader kicked both of them away from her. She groaned and looked up, finding him standing above her with the red lightsaber pointed at her.

"Goodbye, little sister. I am sorry that you could not see things my way."

"AHSOKA!" Obi-Wan cried out.

Vader raised his lightsaber above his head, then brought it down.

Ahsoka narrowed her eyes and reached up, using the Force to push it so that the lightsaber nicked him in the helmet instead. Vader let out a loud shriek of horror, and she used the opportunity to roll directly at his feet, causing him to stumble back. She crawled on her hands and knees, panting heavily, and grabbed her two lightsabers. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Vader crumpled over, covering his smoking helmet with one gloved hand and Obi-Wan lying helplessly on the ground, watching her.

Thinking fast, she threw her lightsabers.

Vader looked up just in time and used the Force to catch it midair. "Your weapon is broken, so you resort to throwing it instead?" he asked angrily, staring at the cheap black market lightsaber with a shattered kyber crystal in his right hand. "How foolish. Did you think you could defeat me with this?" He asked, easily crushing the heavy metal hilt like a piece of flimsy aluminium.

"No," she replied. "That's what the other lightsaber is for."

Vader froze and looked behind him.

Obi-Wan was standing behind him holding the second lightsaber in front of him, panting heavily.

Vader sneered.

"So, the Master wants a turn for himself," he drawled. "Who am I to deny him the pleasure?"