DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything.
Anakin wore the hood for two weeks. Palpatine worked him hard, demanding more and more every time Anakin succeeded. After only two days, Anakin could make his way around the apartment unaided and his hearing grew stronger. On day three, Palpatine bought in a bounty hunter to help with the next stage. In the living area of the empty apartment below the Emperor's a sort of dojo had been erected. There were mats all over the floor for sparring and off to the side, in what would have been the dining room, was an exercise area.
Palpatine bought both Anakin and the bounty hunter down into the makeshift arena. The bounty hunter, a man named Rankin, whistled as he took in the extensive amount of equipment. Anakin, unable to see what he was surrounded by, simply kept his head bowed, waiting for his next instruction.
"For the next two weeks, I want you to regain your fitness and hone your fighting skills. You will of course not be using weapons so all of your training will be focused on hand-to-hand combat. You must be in top shape if you are to be protecting me," Palpatine explained. "Rankin will be your instructor and he will not show any kindness."
With that, Palpatine had left Anakin and Rankin alone. Palpatine hadn't been kidding when he'd said Rankin would not show any kindness. On their first couple of days, Anakin often found himself on the ground, beaten and weak. Rankin didn't pull punches and he didn't care that Anakin couldn't see. He used any chance he could get to take the ex-Jedi out.
But after a few days, Anakin found he was getting better at trusting his other senses. Within a matter of days, Anakin became stronger and faster, relying on his hearing just as much as he did his intuition. Soon Rankin was spending as much time on the mats as Anakin.
They didn't just spar though. Rankin had him working on his fitness as well. He would run laps, leap hurdles and lift weights. As his strength and his faith in his own abilities returned, Anakin found himself pushing harder and harder.
Not once did he allow himself to think of escape but in his heart it was there, pushing him forward. Padme's rescue had filled him with a life that was burning fiercely inside. Knowing no harm could come to her, he let himself go more. He let the Emperor humiliate and mould him. He let the Emperor train him until he was stronger, fitter than before. The more the Emperor pushed Anakin to become a better fighter, the more he thought of his children. He would continue to let the Emperor push him over the edge and further still until he wasn't just physically exhausted, but mentally as well. The Emperor may not realise it but he was creating a deadly weapon that had every intention of turning against him, given the chance.
Ahsoka was sitting against the wall in the bedroom she'd been staying in, her legs pulled up to her chest, arms resting on her knees. She was staring thoughtfully at her lightsaber, which she clutched in her hands. It had been years since she'd had cause to use it but after she'd left the Jedi Order she couldn't bring her to throw it away.
The hilt was nothing special, just a design she had created that felt important to her at the time. She had been eager to return to her Master, who was about to be assigned a new mission and she had wanted in. Master Skywalker had been leaving her behind all too often lately and she was not going to give him another excuse why she could not accompany him. Besides, it was her second lightsaber and there was no ceremony to commemorate her last one being destroyed in battle.
Ahsoka turned the lightsaber over in her hands, remembering all the battles she'd seen, almost all of it shared with her old Master. Despite his unorthodox ways, Anakin had been a brilliant Master. He'd been patient – sometimes – and always made sure that she understood as well as learnt. Even if his teaching methods involved throwing her to the gundarks, Ahsoka knew it was because Anakin believed you never learnt better than through experience.
A soft rap on the door pulled Ahsoka out of her reverie. She didn't move other than to look up. She'd already known it was Obi Wan even before he pushed open the door. He stood in the open doorway, not saying a word. Ahsoka returned her gaze to her lightsaber.
Neither seemed willing to start the conversation that Ahsoka had known was coming. How could she remove Padme's cuffs and collar when not even Obi Wan himself had been able to? Of course Obi Wan had been there when the dark side had first shown its influence over Ahsoka on Mortis but he hadn't known the circumstances under which Ahsoka had left the Jedi Order. She wasn't sure she wanted him to know. She didn't want to disappoint him.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you," she murmured when she couldn't stand the silence any more.
Obi Wan sat down in front of her, his legs crossed and back straight, typical Jedi meditation position. When he still didn't say anything Ahsoka glanced at him. He was watching her silently. His eyes were unreadable but Ahsoka sensed no judgement.
"Please Master, say something," she whispered, anguished.
Obi Wan surveyed her silently. "I just wish to know what you did that is all."
Ahsoka choked back a bitter laugh.
"You know exactly what I did it Master. What you really want to know is how I can do it."
Obi Wan shrugged indifferently. Ahsoka was a smart girl, shrewd too.
Ahsoka sighed. Her fingers continued to fiddle with the lightsaber absently. "You remember Mortis? With the Father, Brother and Sister? Well when the Brother turned me in an effort to turn Anakin he released the dark side within me. I have since been told that everyone has the dark side within them but it depends on the person as to how it manifests itself. After the Brother touched me, I could feel the dark side always there in my soul. Every time I would get upset or angry or frustrated, there it was waiting for me, clawing at my insides for release. It took everything in me to not allow it out. Each time grew harder and harder to resist its pull. It was like a drug, slowly taking hold and inserting its influence.
"After a while I started to change. I was much quicker to anger and easily frustrated. Even the simplest task would get me riled up if I couldn't accomplish it immediately. I hated myself that the dark side could so easily manipulate me but I loved being a Jedi too much to let anyone know what was happening. If I told anyone, I would be straight to the Council and my position revoked. I didn't want that, not when the Jedi were my family and the Temple my home. It was the biggest mistake I made."
She fell silent, remembering. Obi Wan didn't interrupt her, despite his amazement. He hadn't realised she had gone through so much.
"Anakin and I were on the trail of a murderer, some guy who had been kidnapping and strangling children, and had followed him off planet. He had managed to catch wind of our investigation and was keeping one step ahead of us the whole time. Anakin was getting frustrated; I could see he was trying to figure it all out in his head. After being on this mission for a couple of weeks already, I could feel the dark side's pull strongly. I was being short with Master Skywalker and feeling restless. We'd followed him to Tattooine which should have raised bells for me had I been paying attention to what my gut was telling me. But I just wanted to catch this guy and get back to Coruscant to meditate in the Temple. It was one of the only places I found that could banish the dark side within me. While I was meditating in the Temple, I always felt untouchably safe, even from myself.
"Anyway, when we landed, Anakin led us to some bar in Mos Eisley where he knew a few people. He left me alone only for a few minutes when I thought I saw the guy we'd been chasing. Not thinking clear enough to alert Master Skywalker, I left that bar and followed the guy. He must have sensed me following him because he started dodging down alleys and trying to lose himself in the crowded streets. I caught up with him just outside the city walls and he tried to attack me. I had my lightsaber out before I realised it and had the man on the ground faster than I'd ever moved before. My blade was to his throat. He was pleading desperately, something about wife and kids but I was beyond listening. I would have slit his throat right then if Anakin hadn't arrived.
"He stopped me and told me to release the man. It wasn't until the man was running off that I realised it wasn't the murderer. My frustration and impatience nearly cost an innocent man his life."
Ahsoka stared at her lightsaber, unwilling to see Obi Wan's disappointment.
"Not long after we found the murderer, I chose to drop out of the Jedi Order. I couldn't trust myself to do the job I was required to, not when I nearly killed a man. Master Skywalker tried to talk me out of it but I couldn't even look at him, I was so ashamed. Here was the man who had taught me everything I knew and he felt like it was his fault, his failure that was causing me to leave. I couldn't tell him the truth. He wouldn't have understood. So I left the next morning before I could see Anakin again."
Obi Wan reached over and took her hand. He squeezed it gently.
"Both neither Anakin nor I would have held that against you and I believe Anakin would have understood better than you think. You could have come to us young one," he said softly.
Ahsoka opened her mouth to protest but Obi Wan just held up a hand.
"I know I was set in the old ways but I had trained Anakin, who was a very unconventional student. I understood more than I liked to, I think, about the outdated ways of the Jedi but I stuck by what Qui-Gon had taught me because that was what I knew. If anything I would have understood through that."
Ahsoka nodded silently.
"But all this is in the past, how did you manage to suppress the dark side?" Obi Wan continued.
Ahsoka smiled as she remembered meeting her saviours.
"I had been travelling constantly after leaving the Order, hoping to stay off Anakin's radar because I knew he would come looking for me. I met Dray and Nelli in the Outer Rim. They recognised the battle between light and darkness within me and chose to help. They took me to their home planet of Sembon outside of the galaxy where they taught me of their magicks. Sembon is a planet of equal light and dark Force, where neither is dominant over the other but simply co-exists. The old priests who have studied the Force in its entirety told me how there need not be a battle within me, that neither light nor dark should win. They taught me how to reign in the dark side's flare while still releasing the strength and goodness of the light side. It took me almost a year to learn the basics of their teachings. I was still learning when you summoned me."
Obi Wan nodded in understanding. Learning never really ended but could only be advanced.
"Speaking of which, how did you know how to summon me?" Ahsoka asked.
Obi Wan grinned. "I know a few of those same fellows that Anakin knows in Mos Eisley. I had never heard of Sembon but as an Outer Rim planet, Tattooine definitely has some advantages. Mind you, it did take me a long time to even get the name of that planet out of any one. Your secrets are well kept young one."
Ahsoka gave him a small smile.
"Thank you," she muttered. "For not judging."
Obi Wan squeezed her hand once more before standing up and dusting himself off.
"It is I who should thank you for helping Padme," he replied.
He offered Ahsoka his hand and she took it. He pulled her to her feet, where she put her lightsaber back on her belt and looked at Obi Wan expectantly.
"Come on, Anakin is still in trouble and I have a feeling we will be in need of your special skills once more. Everyone else is waiting," he held out his arm for her. She took it like a lady should and allowed him to lead her back into the living area and back into reality.