Part 2

Author's Note: In which reunions happen and plans are made. :D I hope you enjoy the end of this story! ^-^

~ Amina Gila

Ahsoka doesn't know what to think about this any more than she did when it started. It feels like everything is just falling, worsening, instead of getting better. And no, she didn't really expect anything else, but that makes this no less difficult to watch. There's nothing she can do, and she can't just do nothing, either.

Not only because this is Anakin, and that Obi-Wan is still alive, but also with her duty as a Jedi.

She doesn't understand exactly what happened, and she's no longer a Jedi, but Obi-Wan is, and he's one of the few remaining ones she even knows about. She wants to make sure he stays safe.

And she doesn't know what to do about Anakin. There's no one to turn to. He's a Sith, and she has to stop him. She can't let him hurt anyone, but she can't...

He's Anakin.

She's never been able to let go of her attachment to him. She doesn't know what to do.

Not that she's anywhere near either of them anyway, and she's fairly certain they're both still hunting each other down right now, and... what is going to happen with that, she has no idea.

Though, when she wakes up in the dream world for the fourth time, she really can't help wondering why this keeps happening. There has to be some reason for it, right? She doubts the three of them are doing it by accident. Is the Force doing something? Not that she'll probably ever get an answer to that, and it isn't really that important, anyway.

If it is, Ahsoka doubts she'll get an answer, either way. She would've asked Anakin, and... she still could. Maybe she should.

This time she appears looking like... Morai.

The other two appear moments later, Obi-Wan materializes in a misty haze and Anakin –

He looks like a little child, maybe about ten? She's never seen him when he was younger before, but this is probably what he used to look like. Also, he's adorable. Though, he's wearing clothes that look a little more like rags, so this must be from before he came to the Temple.

"Anakin?" she asks, staring at him. He's so small. She didn't know he was this small – from the first time she saw him, he's always been taller than her. She'd found it annoying. Now, he's just tiny, and it's disturbing. To be fair, Ahsoka is still smaller than him, but that's because she's a bird right now. "You're so... small." It's incredibly ineloquent, but she has a right to be a little freaked out, okay?

He blinks, looking down at his hands as if they're something foreign and unnatural. "Yes." He sounds young, too.

It makes her really wonder why they appear the way they do here, anyway. But whatever she appears as seems to fit her mood perfectly. That's probably true for the others too, so she's not sure why Anakin looks like he did when he was so young and a slave, right now.

"Anakin," Obi-Wan says, the tone mostly unreadable, but Ahsoka thinks seeing Anakin this young is probably a lot harder for him than it is for her, since he once knew Anakin at this age.

"What?" he asks, looking up. There's something wary and angry, and... scared? in his eyes. It's easier to see when he looks so young, and somehow, it hurts far worse. She – she can tell that he's hurting, and she wants to help, but she doesn't know what to do. Doesn't know what she could do to change anything if he's determined to stay a Sith.

"I still don't understand what happened," the mist replies, "What the Jedi were doing may have been legally questionable, but if Sidious had been stopped, the galaxy would be in a better state than it is now. You know that."

"It would have shattered. The fighting would be ceaseless," he answers, stubbornly.

Ahsoka has to grudgingly admit that that's probably not entirely wrong, but that doesn't mean Sidious ruling is any better.

"This is still wrong. There has to be some other way. I... can't believe you don't agree with that," she replies.

Anakin doesn't argue that point. Whether it's because he doesn't want to continue the conversation, or he concedes her point, Ahsoka doesn't really know.

"And I still don't understand. You... have always been loyal to those you cared for," Obi-Wan speaks up.

Anakin's expression shifts to anger in nearly a second, but she can sense a smothering feel of... betrayal? "You are hardly one to speak of loyalty, Obi-Wan."

"I was loyal to the Order, like you should have been."

He jerks forwards, though she's not quite expecting him to pick up the nearest thing he can – which happens to be a stick – and throw it at the mist.

Obi-Wan makes a most undignified noise, floating away from him.

"I was your weapon, Obi-Wan," he yells. In his young voice, it just hurts. Though, Ahsoka isn't fully sure what about what Obi-Wan just said set him off so much "Your Chosen One! I already know I mattered to you for nothing but that. You do not need to tell me."

"Anakin, that is not true," he says, and he sounds slightly stung.

"That is what you told me," Anakin retorts bitterly, but now he just sounds miserable, "Before you left. That I was no longer useful to you."

Obi-Wan seems momentarily taken back and unsure how to respond.

And Ahsoka just – she wants this to be different. She doesn't understand why Anakin's so stuck on the Empire, but if he agrees that what Sidious is doing is wrong, then maybe... maybe there's a chance they can do something about it? Or maybe she's being delusional, but she can't imagine walking away from him again, when she sees him like this, even if that's what her Jedi training says she ought to do.

Anakin shifts his position, drawing his knees up to his chest, resting his chin on his arms and ignoring them both.

Ahsoka flutters closer, hesitantly perching on his arm.

He looks up, something that looks too tired to even be a ghost of a smile flickering across his face.

Ahsoka has no idea what to do, but the bird instincts she presently has – if that's what they are – say that patting him on the face with her wing is a good idea, so she... does.

That does make him smile, for a second at least, but somehow it hurts more. She had no idea how much she missed seeing that.

She sees it in her dreams sometimes, and that just makes Anakin's absence so much more painful. She misses him, and it hurts to see him here and wonder if she'll ever get him back, wonder how long it'll be before he's gone again.

"Anakin," Obi-Wan starts again.

"Anakin is gone. I am what remains," he replies, bitterly. She can't say that's untrue. He's a shadow of who he used to be now, in so many ways. Is that why he looked like that the first night he appeared?

"I know," he says, evenly, "But you should know that I meant what I said before leaving for Utapau, even if I know it... may not have seemed like it later."

He just looks away. "Then finish it. When we see each other again."

Ahsoka freezes. What?! He can't seriously be saying what she thinks he is. "Why would you ask him to – to do that?!" So what, if she sounds a tiny bit hysterical right now?

"I am not who you remember, Ahsoka. Who you want."

She's suddenly hit with the overwhelming urge to cry, which is a little ridiculous when she hasn't done that in years. Everything after the galaxy fell has been a pain far beyond that. "But that –"

Maybe it's what they ought to do since he's a Sith, but she can't imagine actually going that far. Hearing him asking for that is something entirely different, and she can't fathom why anyone would... "I won't leave you. Not this time." She has no idea what that promise is going to mean, but she knows that she can't.

He's too important to her. She didn't have a choice but to leave him, but that doesn't mean it didn't hurt him, that it didn't lead to... what happened to him happening. Maybe she couldn't have stopped it, but she's still responsible for what did happen, and she needs to make it right.

Anakin looks up at her finally. He looks just as tired, worn as before. "Then you will die." It's not a threat. It's a statement of fact. If he stays with the Empire, and she stubbornly goes after him, that's probably the truth. But she has something else in mind. That might work. Maybe.

Anakin abruptly fades out before she has time to reply, and she frantically flaps her wings to regain her footing. She turns to look at the mist. "Where are you?" she demands. "Wherever you are, I need to find him."

Obi-Wan hesitates for a moment. "I'm going to Jabi'im right now, with a transport of people hiding from the Empire. But I thought we lost his trail."

"That's not what it sounded like." It's certainly not the impression she got. "If we talk to him in person, maybe we can convince him to..." Something. Leave the Empire, maybe? He might be a Sith, but he's not like the other ones she's seen. She sees that more, the more hours they spend talking every night.

"We can try, but I don't know if it will work. You must be prepared for that possibility."

"We can't give up until we try," she replies, fiercely. It almost sounds like he already has, and Ahsoka doesn't understand why. Maybe, because of whatever's gone down between the two of them. But whatever it takes, she's going to at least try to help him, even if she has no idea what she's doing.

**w**

The gnawing emptiness inside of Vader, as he stands on the bridge of the Star Destroyer over Jabi'im, only feels greater than ever now. His dreams are reminding him of what it was like to be Anakin, but it's not like so much of that was real, anyway. He was so often alone, even back then.

"I won't leave you. Not this time."

Vader doesn't know what to think about that. If Ahsoka is serious, it's going to get her hurt, because he knows she's too stubborn to Fall, and... join him. Seeing her now, he doesn't know that he fully wants her to, either. He can't imagine Ahsoka being anything but what she is. He doesn't want her to change for him. That – that wouldn't be fair to her, even if it's always expected of him, for someone to want him. But he can't do that anymore, because now he's Sidious'.

Even if he wants to – to matter to her again.

He wants to matter to his former master again, too, even if that's a foolish hope.

"I meant what I said before leaving for Utapau."

Even if that is true, even if... Obi-Wan did once care for Anakin more than he ever showed – Vader always thought he did, but every time he remembers Mustafar and he just doesn't know anymore, doesn't know what was true versus what he wanted to believe. He knew Obi-Wan always had a darker streak to him, but never like that – Vader isn't who he used to be, and he can't be.

(If Obi-Wan Fell, if he joined the Empire, maybe Vader would matter to him again. Maybe. It's not as if he could be a worse master than Sidious. But it's – it's different to imagine Obi-Wan hurting him again than it is for Sidious. Worse.)

Probably, it's foolish to hope for more than anything else. (He couldn't get that thought out of his mind, though, of having a new master, which is probably why he appeared in the last dream looking like he did back when he was a... slave. In truth, it never feels like he's been anything else.)

The only thing he can truly hope for is that Obi-Wan will give him what he asked for in the last dream, just this once.

The ship Obi-Wan is on is trying to flee now, and Vader isn't surprised when he sees a shuttle leave it, flying towards a nearby moon. It's him, and it's time to face him again. Where things will go from there, Vader has no idea.

He moves for his own ship, taking off, leaving the Inquisitors to deal with whoever else was working with Obi-Wan. That's not his concern right now.

He hadn't made it to the moon yet when another shuttle suddenly comes out of hyperspace. The familiar Force presence washes over him instantly. It's... Ahsoka? What's she doing here? How did she even know to come here?!

But how it happened doesn't matter as much as that she's here, and he's about to see her again, too, even if he has no idea what it's going to mean.

Vader's shuttle reaches the moon's surface last, and he's... not in a hurry to get off, but he heads for the ramp, anyway. Obi-Wan and Ahsoka are both waiting a distance away, some yards away from each other.

Obi-Wan looks the same as he did on Mapuzo, just more settled and determined. Less in shock, and – Vader roughly shies away from the memory of what he did there. He'd just – He was so angry, and he wanted him to hurt, the way he hurt him, the way he's made Vader hurt for years since. He thought it might help him understand how Obi-Wan could have done that in the first place, but it only left him more lost and confused than before. He still doesn't understand. Probably, he never will.

He doesn't know what to think of Obi-Wan's apology for doing that, either. Obi-Wan just doesn't do that, and if he – if he was wrong in thinking Vader deserved that, how could he have done it?

Vader's gaze darts to Ahsoka next. She's fully grown now, so much taller than when he last saw her. She was barely up to his shoulder then, but she's an adult now even if she's still shorter than him. And she looks just as fiercely determined as ever. Seeing her standing at the base of the ramp to her shuttle reminds him of the day she'd walked off that shuttle right before leaving for Mandalore. The day he thought he might have the chance to be with her again, right before everything fell. Force, he's missed her. So much.

But he doesn't know why she's here. Doesn't know for sure that it's anything different than what Obi-Wan is.

"Have you come to destroy me?" Vader asks, evenly. At least here, the mask hides him and his voice. It's almost easier than in the dream, but he misses the ability to move freely and feel, the way he does in his dreams.

"I'm here to take you home," Ahsoka tells him fearlessly.

As though he even has a home to go back to. There is nothing for him except the Empire. He doesn't want to believe it, but it's the truth.

"I cannot leave." He can't, even if he wants to. Which he does, but it – What he wants to go back to isn't something that's real. It never was.

"Why?" Obi-Wan challenges.

"We spoke of that already." There's no point in them fighting about the Empire again, and he can't just walk away from Sidious. His master is all he has, and he owes him loyalty, and he – (He's too scared to.) Even if he's angry at Sidious for ordering the clones against Ahsoka – he'd like to demand answers, but then he'd have to explain how he's been talking to her in the first place. And he's also angry about the clones' chips. Those things were controlling them, and even if they would probably have chosen to stand with the Empire regardless, that should be their choice. They – they were slaves to the Republic, but even more so slaves to the Empire, and Vader didn't even realize it.

He would've stopped it, if he'd realized it, but he didn't. The truth was right in front of him, and it feels like he chose to ignore it, even if he genuinely didn't realize. He didn't think Fives was right. They said he lost his mind, and Anakin had no reason to think anything else.

Fives wasn't in his right mind. That much was obvious, and even if he was insane, he wasn't lying, either. He was right.

"If you want to help the galaxy, this isn't the way," Ahsoka replies, "There's another way. There always is. You taught me that."

"What would you suggest?" Vader asks finally, because he needs to know. Maybe it just feels like he owes it to her somehow.

"We have to stop Sidious," she answers, "I think that's most important. Probably, someone would have to temporarily take his place to transition the power. If you come with us, we can find a way. Together."

He shouldn't be thinking about this. He shouldn't be, but thoughts of betraying his master have been crossing his mind repeatedly since he first got word that the Third Sister had a lead. He knows Sidious is destroying the galaxy, and technically, his master already did betray him – he mind-controlled his boys, and he ordered them to try killing Ahsoka. That isn't something Vader can forget, no matter Sidious' reasoning.

(Most of all, he wants to have... a family. He wants to matter to someone again, someone other than Sidious. Even if it's still a fantasy.)

But he has to be practical, and it really circles back to one of the main things that keeps him with Sidious. (He still remembers the lightning burning across his skin, only right after Mustafar.) "If I leave with you, Sidious will find me. He would not stop searching." And his master would never forgive a betrayal like that.

He can't really read the look on Ahsoka's face, though she looks hurt. Something he very much mirrors, with how close it feels a family might be again. "I think," she begins slowly, "It would be worth a try, if you were willing. Sidious is destroying the galaxy."

He thinks, briefly, of just walking out, and he can't quite fathom it. Sidious has given him so much. He gave him purpose. He – he can't do that. Doesn't know how. "I cannot disobey my master."

"You're afraid of him."

He thinks, briefly, of denying it, but what would the point be? "That is the way of the Dark Side."

"Anakin, you don't owe him anything," Ahsoka argues, taking a step closer. He wants her. He misses her, her brightness and loyalty and everything they were once, and the more he sees her, the more he remembers it. He also fears what comes with it.

His feelings for her are a weakness, but he can't quite find it in himself to reject that. Ahsoka is... too important to him.

Obi-Wan is watching them, but he doesn't say anything.

"He is my master," Vader objects, even if he – he wants to agree with her. Now that he has the chance to get out, he doesn't want to stay, even if he knows he's... thinking emotionally right now. "I am only alive because of him."

He doesn't miss the slight twitch in Obi-Wan's expression.

"What –" Ahsoka's gaze darts between them. "How bad was it?" she demands, sounding the faintest bit horrified.

"I was nearly gone," he answers, tonelessly. "Sidious repaired me."

"Is that what your... armor is for?" she asks, faintly.

"Yes." But it was his destiny. He accepted that long ago, but that doesn't mean it ever ceases to hurt, that his former master would do that, that he – (So why does he still miss him so much?)

"Sidious didn't save you because he wanted to help you. He just wanted to use you," Ahsoka argues, finally, after shooting a final look at Obi-Wan.

She's not wrong, but that's always been true. Vader can... see that now. (But he'd rather be with them, Ahsoka at least, than Sidious. He misses what that felt like, even if that's not who he is anymore.)

"We won't let Sidious find you," Obi-Wan speaks up, finally, "If that's what you are... afraid of."

Vader twitches, turning to look at him. Once, he trusted him to protect him. He wishes he could again, but he – he can't. Not for real. And besides – "He will destroy you," Vader warns. (And that is something he doesn't want to happen, no matter what's gone between them. Not after Mapuzo. Even if he can't say why.)

"We'll face it together," Ahsoka replies, determinedly, "I can't believe he's more powerful than you are, Anakin."

"I tried to destroy him once. I failed." He doesn't want to think about that time. But as much as he wants to go with them, he can't risk getting them hurt like that. Can't let Ahsoka's determination lead to her death.

"But we weren't together then," she argues, stubbornly, "You can come with us before the Empire realizes where you went. He wouldn't realize what happened to you immediately, would he? We'll have time to plan."

Vader wishes it was that simple, but with how Sidious always hovers at the edge of his mind constantly, he's probably already sensing that Vader's line of thoughts isn't where it should be. It sends a chill through him at the mere thought, but – He can't just refuse Ahsoka. He... he can't, and there's no use denying that. He doesn't want to be the one to walk away from her this time, when she's offering him what he's dreamed of for so long.

"Perhaps," Vader concedes, finally. He knows what he just did – voiced his intentions to turn against his master, and he shields his mind in the hopes Sidious won't presently sense his intentions. He has no idea where they're going to go from here, but he –

He has the chance to find his way home, and he doesn't want to lose that, even if he knows how foolish this is. If he loses it, it will destroy him entirely, if there's even anything left of him to destroy.

The way Ahsoka's expression lights up warms something inside of him. It's a strange sensation he hasn't felt in years now.

Obi-Wan seems... Vader can't really tell, actually. "Then we should go," he asserts, finally.

"Yes," Vader agrees, even if a part of him is stubbornly reluctant to say anything in agreement to him.

What he's about to do now, there's no going back from. (It's what he's longed for, for years, though. He's been smothered from ceaseless loneliness ever since everything fell apart, and he can't refuse. Doesn't want to. He doesn't want to hurt Ahsoka by refusing either, though there's still a chance she's more likely to get hurt this way than anything else.)

Vader throws a final glance back at his ship before he approaches the other two. He's leaving with them. The full implications of that probably won't sink in for a while yet. And he's certainly not ready to think about how Sidious is going to react. Not right now. (It feels just a little like he's going home.)

**w**

Obi-Wan genuinely has no idea how to feel about any of this. Yes, he agreed to come with Ahsoka in the hopes they could find some traces of Anakin left in Vader, but that doesn't mean he believed it would actually work. Maybe he wondered constantly, ceaselessly, for years if Padme was right, because he didn't understand how Anakin could be "gone" like Yoda insisted, but he –

It's different now that it's actually happening. It means that – that if he'd tried on Mustafar, if he'd done something differently, if things hadn't gotten as far as they did, maybe things wouldn't have had to reach this point at all. Maybe he wouldn't have had to lose Anakin for years, even if it doesn't change that he's still the one who destroyed the Jedi. Maybe Anakin wouldn't have had to – to live like that for years. Obi-Wan doesn't know exactly what his condition is, and he frankly doesn't want to.

Ht's not ready to face this, and it's almost harder knowing that Anakin has been there all this time, that he was never as lost as Obi-Wan thought. (He was only acting out of anger back then, so it's not surprising that he didn't notice, but it doesn't change that it means everything he did was entirely for nothing, because it – it wasn't the only way to stop Vader.)

It hardly feels real that there's a chance he could have Anakin back. There's still so much that's changed between them, that he doesn't know how to bridge that gap, and he thinks that Anakin feels the same way. Not yet, at least. Though, if they keep on ending up in dreams together almost every night, that's something they're going to have to figure out eventually. Because otherwise, it's going to become increasingly harder and harder, to remember what they used to have, knowing it's not going to come back. (Or could it?)

There's also the small problem of Luke and Leia. Anakin might be back, but he's still a Sith, and Obi-Wan doesn't know how to handle that. Should he tell him about the twins? Or should he wait until he's certain this change is actually stable?

Either way, Obi-Wan needs to keep protecting them, and that means he won't be able to stay with Anakin. Not that he expected otherwise, but... still. Thinking about leaving him again makes Obi-Wan feel that same desperate, aching loss he's felt all these years with the knowledge that Anakin was dead, gone forever, because of him, but now he's not and – That doesn't mean it's the same. They're not the same as who they used to be. What they once had with each other is still forever lost. He thinks the distance might make it a little easier. At least right now.

Ahsoka should be able to keep an eye on Anakin in the meantime, anyway. He's more comfortable around her. (Not like that's a surprise.) And Obi-Wan trusts her to keep an eye on Anakin. If... something starts going downhill, she'll deal with it, or call him.

He needs to tell them both his decision, though he imagines they already expected it.

Anakin is lingering in the hold near Ahsoka when Obi-Wan steps inside, though the helmeted head turns towards him when he enters.

For a long moment, they just look at each other. (He wishes he could have Anakin back the way he used to be, and that – that isn't going to happen. That is something he does need to let go of. If they form something again, it'll have to be something... new. He can see that now.)

Obi-Wan doesn't know what to say to him. He failed him, far worse than he thought he did, and he doesn't know how to go on from here. He doubts there's even a way to.

"You're going to the Rebellion?" Obi-Wan states more than asks.

"That's the plan," Ahsoka replies, glancing sideways at Anakin.

He says nothing.

"I would not be opposed to staying here, but there are other places I am needed, at least temporarily," he says, finally.

Anakin twitches a little at that. "You are leaving?" he asks. The tone isn't exactly accusing, it's more... resigned, perhaps? It's hard to tell through the vocoder. Maybe Anakin himself isn't sure how to feel about that.

"I am," Obi-Wan confirms. It's not something he wants to explain in detail. He still doesn't know with certainty they can trust Anakin, and he won't risk it.

"Places to be?" Ahsoka asks. She probably assumes he's helping the Rebellion differently, and he doesn't elaborate.

"Yes. But I'll come if you – either of you – need something," he adds, as an afterthought.

Anakin is just... looking at him again. If he's hoping for... something, Obi-Wan isn't sure what it is. There's no other decision he really can make right now, anyway.

It feels like he should say something else to him, but he doesn't know what. It's been so long that he doesn't really know how to talk to him anymore. Maybe, it's best if he just leaves things at this.

This isn't the last time he's going to be seeing Anakin. He can sense that much, even if he's just opening himself up to the Force for the first time in years. Even if it still feels cold when he reaches into the Force.

Whatever reason the Force had for giving them that dream connection – provided it wasn't something the three of them did by accident, though Obi-Wan has no idea how they would've done that – it's... changed everything. If not for that intervention and Ahsoka coming here, he and Anakin probably would've fought again, and he'd rather not consider where that could have ended. (He already believed for years that he killed Anakin, he – he can't imagine having to do that again. Even if he knows there's still a chance he might have to.)

What matters – or at least what Obi-Wan hopes matters – is that none of that happened. Vader isn't with the Empire anymore – he left for them – and that must mean something.

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