"You requested my presence, master?" Dooku kneeled before Sidious. He wasn't sure what had spurred the sudden request. He had felt a great Darkness that almost felt…familiar, but he wasn't sure what.

"Rise." Sidious said. There was a hint of disgust in his voice. He turned to face the window of the Chancellor's Suite. "You are aware of the first and only reality of the Sith: there can only be two."

Dooku raised an eyebrow. "Yes, my lord."

"Yet… you have failed to sense it." Sidious sounded disappointed.

Dooku's eyes widened, realizing what he was saying. "Master-"

"You have been replaced." Dooku felt a Force grip pull him back, slamming him against the wall. He groaned, looking up at the figure towering over him. He couldn't believe his eyes.

"Sky…walker?"

"Lord Vader, show my former student the Dark Side's true power." Sidious grinned.

Vader shared the appearance of the late Anakin Skywalker, only now his once blue eyes were a heartless yellow.

Dooku scrambled to his feet, igniting his lightsaber. "I will re-earn your trust, Master." Sidious gave him a look of pity as Dooku lunged at Vader.

If Dooku's speed was impressive, then Vader's was inhuman. Vader ignited his red saber and parried Dooku's strike before quickly slashing through Dooku's abdomen. Dooku gave a surprised groan before falling to the ground, dead.

"Excellent," Sidious purred. "Your way with the Dark Side is strong."

Vader said nothing. The face of Anakin Skywalker was emotionless.

Sidious paused, looking back out the window. "Skywalker's Master is in hiding on Tatooine. Eliminate him. Show me your true strength."

Vader gave a look resembling that of recognition before exiting the room.

Sidious smiled as he thought about his greatest accomplishment. Breaking Skywalker. Creating Vader.

Soon Kenobi and Yoda would be taken care of. And then the reign of his Empire could begin.

"Ahsoka? I'm relieved that you survived," Obi-Wan said, a faint smile on his face. It was replaced with a frown when he noticed Anakin's absence.

Ahsoka and Rex were using Anakin's holoprojector that he had used to keep in touch with Obi-Wan.

"As with you, Obi-Wan."

"I presume your reason for calling me is not simply to congratulate me on my survival," Obi-Wan remarked.

"No… it's Anakin. I sense something terrible has happened to him. He was captured by Darth Sidious. I sense…that he's been forced to the Dark Side," Ahsoka felt a pang in her heart. Because of me.

Obi-Wan looked shocked but then…he had a look of pity on his face. For her. "Ahsoka…" he began.

"He's not gone," Ahsoka interrupted, startling him. Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow.

Ahsoka sighed and continued, "I… sense Darkness in him, but…Sidious, he's manipulated him. Anakin, he feels…broken. He's not himself."

Obi-Wan seemed to contemplate what she had said. "Do you know where he is?"

"He was on Coruscant. But…that might have changed. Let me see." She paused and reached out to the Force again. The Force seemed to have been providing her with more answers recently.

Like before, she saw the Darkness clouding him. But from the vision, she recognized the sand-filled landscape that was to come.

"Tatooine. Maybe we could intercept-"

She saw Obi-Wan's eyes widen.

"It appears the Sith Lord wants me dead," Obi-Wan interjected. "I have gone into hiding here on Tatooine. I'm almost flattered," he said grimly.

"Rex and I will be there soon," Ahsoka said, motioning for Rex to start prepping their ship. She paused and added, "Do not hurt him."

Obi-Wan paused and nodded. "I'm not sure if he'll give me much of a choice." He thought for a moment and added, "I hope you're right about this. For his sake and ours."

"I know I am," Ahsoka said and signed off.

Obi-Wan watched as a shuttle landed right outside his hut. He saw a cloaked figure walking out.

"Anakin?" Obi-Wan started, cautiously approaching him.

Anakin said nothing, staring emotionlessly at his former Master. Obi-Wan was startled to see that Anakin's blue eyes had been replaced by yellow ones.

"Anakin-" Obi-Wan asked again.

"That name has no meaning to me," Anakin replied, almost robotically.

Obi-Wan shook his head. "You're not yourself right now. We can help you. Ahsoka said-" Obi-Wan tried to explain.

"Ahsoka Tano is dead." Anakin replied.

Obi-Wan didn't miss the tinge of hurt in his voice. He narrowed his eyes. Is that what he thought?

"No, Anakin. You're wrong about that. She is very much alive," Obi-Wan replied.

Anakin stood silently. Obi-Wan saw the faintest glimmer of hope in his eyes.

"You should listen to him," a familiar voice behind. Anakin's eyes widened in shock.

He whirled around to see Ahsoka standing in front of him.

"Ahsoka…" Anakin started. His eyes flickered back to their normal blue.

The ringing in his head gave but one continuous command. Kill her.

Ahsoka was beginning to approach him, when Anakin ignited his lightsaber, tears in his eyes. "Stay back!" he snarled. He was shaking.

Ahsoka recognized the same look in Anakin's eyes that they'd seen in Rex when he was under the control of the inhibitor chip.

"Anakin." Ahsoka looked unfazed. "It's not your fault. Your mind has been altered. We can help you." She took a step forward. "Let me help you," she added more softly.

"The ringing in my head…I can't…" Anakin started, as looked at her. He was clenching his saber so tightly Ahsoka thought it might break under his grasp.

Suddenly, Anakin stopped shaking. His expression returned to an emotionless one.

Ahsoka felt her heart sink. He'd stopped fighting it. To escape the pain. His eyes returned to a heartless yellow. After a beat, he looked up and lunged at her.

"Anakin, no!" Obi-Wan cried out.

But Ahsoka was prepared for it. She ignited her lightsabers and went on the defensive. Anakin was fast, but he seemed to be holding back. He wasn't attacking at full strength. Whether it was intentional or not, Ahsoka didn't have time to wonder.

Ahsoka continued to parry and dodge Anakin's strikes. The hundreds of hours she'd spent sparring with him were coming in handy.

She locked sabers with Anakin, shaking her head to keep Obi-Wan from interfering. Anakin leaned down on the saber lock.

Ahsoka kicked him back, knocking him backwards. When he got back to his feet, there was a look of rage in his eyes.

He lunged at her again, this time with far more determination. Ahsoka was barely able to keep up. One of Anakin's swings grazed her right thigh, and she cried out in pain, falling to the ground.

Kill her, the voice rang in his head again.

Anakin raised his lightsaber to make the finishing blow.

I would never let anyone hurt you, Ahsoka... never. An old memory from the past suddenly surfaced.

He stared at Ahsoka, laying on the ground. Her cry of pain echoed in his mind.

His eyes widened in disbelief. This was his fault. His eyes flickered back to blue.

He deactivated and dropped his lightsaber, stumbling backwards. He looked at her, horrified. "Ahsoka…" He stepped forward, reaching his hand out for her.

Before he could say anything else, a bright flash of blue suddenly appeared and Anakin grunted as he felt the full brunt of a stun blast. He fell to the ground, unconscious.

Rex sighed, as he finally stopped looking down his sniper's scope.

Obi-Wan walked over to help Ahsoka up. "Wasn't that cutting it a little close?"

Ahsoka gave a weak smile. She nodded in appreciation at Rex, who walked up to them.

"An inhibitor chip?" Rex speculated.

Ahsoka nodded, "Similar to the one in the clones. Though at this stage of his life, I can only imagine how Sidious managed…," Ahsoka trailed off, grimacing at the thought.

Obi-Wan seemed to understand. "The shuttle I escaped in has a medbay that we can use to extract it," Obi-Wan said.

Obi-Wan and Rex lifted Anakin up and walked towards the shuttle. Ahsoka limped after them.

After entering Obi-Wan's shuttle, they placed Anakin onto the surgery bed.

"Do a scan for an inhibitor chip," Obi-Wan asked the medical droid.

Ahsoka expected that there might be some difficulty like for Rex, but the scan soon came back positive, blinking the location of the chip on the monitor. She and Rex breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe the universe was finally giving them a break.

"Put him under and get that chip out of him," Ahsoka ordered the medical droid. The medical droid beeped in compliance.

Ahsoka didn't even realize she was holding her breath until the surgery was over.

After a few moments, Anakin opened his eyes. Blue, kind, compassionate eyes. He saw Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, and Rex looking at him from above. "What…"

Ahsoka didn't waste another beat. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him tightly into a hug. Anakin let out a small grunt as she threw herself against him. He chuckled. "There you are." Ahsoka breathed in his scent. Force, she had missed it.

She didn't know how long they had stayed that way, but it must have been long enough to make Obi-Wan uncomfortable.

Obi-Wan cleared his throat. "I hate to cut this reunion short, but I'm afraid we can't stay here much longer." Ahsoka nodded, stepping back.

Anakin nodded. "He knows we're here."

Obi-Wan added, "And I'm guessing that it won't take long for him to figure out that you are no longer under his control."

Ahsoka thought for a moment before asking Obi-Wan, "Do you know of any other Jedi who survived?"

Obi-Wan considered, "Master Yoda and I were rescued by Senator Organa who saw the chaos unfold. There was a coded retreat message, telling all Jedi to return to the Jedi Temple, so that they could be killed. We managed to fight through the Temple and change the message to warn all surviving Jedi to stay away. Master Yoda went to confront Sidious. He asked me to find the two of you. Though it seems you both managed to find me first," Obi-Wan crossed his arms, a look of mild exasperation across his face.

"It would seem Master Yoda wasn't able to defeat Sidious," Anakin observed grimly, before pausing. "Though…I sense that Master Yoda is still alive."

"Senator Organa might know his whereabouts," Obi-Wan said. "He is currently stationed on the Polis Massa asteroid. We can head there now."

Anakin nodded. "Let's not keep the Grandmaster waiting."