Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars: The Clone Wars. I only own the OC Jayden Shan.

Pain. Unrelenting, sharp and sudden. It collided with him again and again, striking fiercely and mercilessly. It shot through his arms as metal crushed his bones. It filled his neck as his throat grew constricted, choked by an invisible assailant. It consumed his body as he was shocked by lightning. Pain and agony drove him to his knees as the battle ended and his emotions settled.

For the first time ever... he felt afraid.

Fear and confusion filled his mind. Never before had he faced someone so powerful, someone with enough strength to bruise him and crush him without breaking a sweat. He felt fear as he realized there was someone stronger than him, someone who could kill him so easily.

In the corner of his gaze stood Count Dooku. He did nothing to aid him, adding to his fear. Dooku simply stood by and watched as this scene played out before him.

The pain came again, searing and unrelenting. It attacked his mind without hesitation, driving him to his breaking point. It was rewriting his mind, changing how he thought, turning him into the servant he was supposed to be. It built his confusion. Why was he enduring this? Why did he have to suffer this? Each command that was ingrained into his mind, forcibly branded there like with a hot iron, changed him a little more... it forced him to forget certain aspects of himself and gain new, unknown ones their place, confusing him further.

Then came a most startling and unexpected command.

"You feel nothing for Ahsoka Tano!" A voice growled. His gaze looked up to reveal a hooded individual, showing only the lower jaw of man with a mouth full of crooked teeth curled into a snarl. The sight of this man was chilling and the command he issued sent another pang of fear surging through his mind.

He didn't want to forget her. He needed to remember her, wanted to always remember her.

He fought against the command as best he could, summoning the last ounces of his mental fortitude from the depths of his confused and pain-addled mind. He tried to circumvent it, to avoid it, to get out of saying it. But an onslaught of lightning drove him over the edge, forcing him to scream out the declaration in one final attempt to end his suffering.

"I FEEL NOTHING FOR AHSOKA TANO!"

Ahsoka awoke with a start, gasping for air and covered with a sheen of sweat. She was alone in her quarters at the Jedi Temple and had once been fast asleep in her bed.

Until this vision erupted in her mind.

Ahsoka had seen visions before, visions that helped her prevent the assassination of Senator Amidala. But this was something else entirely. She appeared to be witnessing something as it was happening. She didn't know where it was but a few faint clues indicated through whom she was witnessing this.

Mainly the appearance of a crossguard lightsaber.

It had to be... it had to be Darth Khan.

"But why?" Ahsoka wondered out loud. Why indeed. Why was she witnessing this apparent torture of Khan? And through his eyes?

But another, darker question appeared as she recalled her vision.

"Who was that Sith?" She wondered. The amount of power he radiated was enormous. He appeared to be very strong in the Dark Side of the Force, especially if he was capable of throwing Khan around like a rag doll and crushing him like a piece of plastic.

She didn't even think that Khan could be hurt.

Under normal circumstances she would've been glad to see that monster suffer, to experience such harsh pain like he had inflicted on her Master. But the amount of fear she felt in his mind made Ahsoka feel... sorry for him.

If Count Dooku, who trained Khan and is his Master, was confined to the sidelines to simply observe such a beating... this Sith Lord had to be really powerful.

Ahsoka moved to a seated position, resting her feet on the floor of her room. Rubbing her face, she wondered what she ought to do about such an occurrence.

Perhaps it would be best to go and speak with Master Yoda about this... or better yet, bring the matter before the whole Jedi Council. Given their deep concern over the presence of Khan, especially after he had beaten down Anakin and his apparant connection to Darth Revan, maybe they should know about this.

Especially this Sith Lord.

Shaking the last few ounces of sleep from her pajama-clad body, Ahsoka rose to get dressed and go before the Jedi Council.

As Sidious bombarded Jayden's mind with the Force, an unintended consequence came about as the result of the Sith Lord's forced effort to cleanse Jayden's mind of any and all feeling for Ahsoka Tano. In his pain-ridden state, Jayden accidentally reached out to the young Togruta with his mind. Due to doing this through use of the Force, the combination of his mentality with Sidious' Force-based torture resulted in something neither of them would ever know about... the creation of a vision. A vision Ahsoka experienced as she slept that night while Jayden was enduring his brutal 'discipline'. The young Sith had no idea Ahsoka had witnessed his pain and agony and suffering at the hands of Darth Sidious, he didn't even realize he had slowly began opening a connection to her through the Force.

Little did Jayden know that he had also accidentally revealed something incredible to the young Jedi he'd grown so fond of: the identity of the second Sith Lord.

With the vision still fresh in her mind, Ahsoka walked through the now silent halls of the Jedi Temple towards the council chamber on the uppermost floor. Flashes from her vision shot through her mind, forcing her to remember the massive amounts of fear and the unbearable amounts of pain. She found it hard to believe that someone could endure so much and found it even harder to believe someone could be so heartless.

After witnessing Anakin's beating, she didn't think it was possible for anyone else to be so cruel and violent. Apparently it was.

Arriving at the entrance to the Council chamber, Ahsoka paused as she thought about what she would say to them... and how she would even introduce this revelation to them. This was something of a first for her, to witness things from the enemy's perspective, and she had to wonder if there was anything she should leave out in an effort to stay on topic.

Should she even be here? Should she wait until morning?

Ahsoka began to quickly go over the details of her vision, hoping to be as quick and precise as possible so she didn't take up too much of the Council's time.

The sound of Shaak Ti calling her name snapped Ahsoka from her reminiscing, remembering that fellow Jedi could sense her presence. Almost sheepishly, Ahsoka slipped into the Council chamber and appeared in full view before the entire Jedi Council.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you, Masters," she began, "but... there's something I need to tell you." Many of the Masters cocked their heads in curiosity or leaned in, wondering as to what she had to say.

Only Master Yoda had an idea.

"Troubled your mind is." The wise old Grand Master stated, reading her through the Force. "Seen something you have." His report drew a few more curious glances from the other members of the Council. Ahsoka nodded.

"I... I had a vision." She told them.

"What was in it?" Obi-Wan inquired. Ahsoka took a deep breath as she began to relate what she had viewed in her nightmarish revelation.

"I saw Darth Khan... he was being tortured by a Sith Lord. Not Count Dooku." She started. Mentioning those first few details, she could see many of the Council members visibly stiffen and bear looks of concern. "I could feel his fear and his pain. He was... so scared." She continued. "He... He was afraid of this Sith Lord, whoever it was. A-And I thought that, if Khan is afraid of someone, maybe the Council should know about it." She explained. Several members nodded as they digested the information she had presented.

"You were wise to bring this before us, Padawan Tano." Mace Windu praised her. "But I sense you witnessed something else... something you haven't told us." Ahsoka quickly searched her mind, trying to think of some detail she could've possibly over-

Oh. Well... there was that one thing...

"It... It appears the Sith Lord was trying to cleanse Khan's mind..." she nervously replied, feeling very hesitant to disclose the information. Her feelings were quite obvious to the other elder Jedi.

"It's alright Padawan," fellow Togruta Shaak Ti reassured her, "you can tell us." Ahsoka nodded in understanding and took a deep breath.

"A-Apparently... Khan has, er-well had, feelings... for me." She admitted. "The Sith Lord forced him to feel nothing for me... he was using the Force to change his mind, like he was re-writing it." This information both puzzled and created grave concern among the Jedi Masters.

"Sith do feel emotion." Master Mundi simply stated. "But to feel such for a Jedi?"

"Something so very contrary to how he acts towards the rest of us." Aayla added, being something of an expert on affection. Being a Twi'lek (and a near flawless one in terms of physique) meant she had earned the gazes of more than a few men over the course of her time as a Jedi. She was well aware many men were capable of lusting after a female Jedi, despite their disconnect from physical pleasure in any form.

"Masters, I didn't try to do anything to encourage this! I swear!" Ahsoka quickly moved to defend herself, thinking they might deem her responsible for Khan's feelings.

"We believe you Ahsoka." Shaak calmed her. "But you are an adolescent Togruta, on the cusp of becoming an adult. Your body is maturing and as a result you may attract a few more stares than you might like... evidently Darth Khan is included in that category."

"Ew." Ahsoka shuddered, feeling suddenly disgusted by the idea that Khan might've thought about her in that way. "Trust me Master Ti, I do not reciprocate his affection." Ahsoka firmly replied.

"That is good to hear." Mace nodded, pleased Ahsoka was keeping the Jedi Code. Being the apprentice of Anakin Skywalker, the Master Jedi sometimes had his doubts about what the Chosen One was teaching his apprentice. Master Yoda spoke next.

"See this vision, I would like to." He calmly told Ahsoka. "Recall it for us, can you?"

"I'm really seeing only bits and pieces Master." Ahsoka admitted. "It was all so sudden and it was over so quickly."

"Help you, we can." The Grand Master stated. Turning to his fellow Jedi, Yoda instructed them to reach out to Ahsoka through the Force. Closing their eyes, the Jedi focused as Ahsoka did her part to recall the vision.

By working together, the brief moment was recalled in full and the entire Council was able to witness what Ahsoka had seen. Once the vision had ended, the Council slowly returned to reality.

"It is troubling to see a Sith Lord of such power." Plo Koon mused. "And that there is someone capable of subjecting even someone with power such as Khan."

"I agree." Obi-Wan agreed, feeling a little bewildered by the revelation. Shaak Ti said nothing but was deeply perturbed by the fact that Khan, the cold-hearted Sith, felt something for Ahsoka.

Force knew that couldn't possibly end well. Khan could very well use it to sway Ahsoka to the Dark Side.

The other Jedi nodded, realizing that such information needed immediate attention... no matter how late it was.

"For bringing this to us, thank you, we do." Yoda thanked Ahsoka on behalf of the others. Ahsoka nodded and took that as her que to be dismissed.

"Ahsoka." Mace called after her. "Be very careful around Darth Khan. Given that he appears to have some level of attraction towards you, it would be wise if you avoided any solo encounter with him. We don't want him acting upon any kind of desire." Ahsoka nodded in understanding, but a shiver shot through her spine as she momentarily wondered as to what Khan might do if he ever managed to get his hands on her.

The thought was creepy at best.

"I will, Master Windu."

As Ahsoka walked away, her mind was focusing back on what she saw. She could feel what Khan had been feeling then. He was angry at that Sith lord attacking him like that, he was scared for his life as he's never felt such pain in his life... and he was also scared for her! He was afraid for her, that this Sith would come for her because of Khan's feelings for her. Was it possible...

That there was good within Khan?

And that's it for this chapter everyone. I hope you all enjoyed it.