Blade to blade, they were nearly identical, for after countless hours of lightsaber sparring, they knew each other like siblings, perhaps even better. In fact, they might as well have been siblings.
In the heat of battle, Ahsoka was almost as fierce as Anakin, but as their blades crossed, she inevitably began to give ground. Not only was he more powerful, but even now, after seeing what her master had become, the young Togruta's heart still couldn't bear the thought of striking him down.
Anakin threw containers at Ahsoka with the Force. Flashing strikes were exchanged. Leaps were dodged or met with flying kicks. Ankle sweeps were skipped over. Physical blows were parried.
Before long, they had fought their way off the landing platform and into the main entry hallway, moving the fight toward the main control room. Pieces of the hallway were cut up as their lightsabers flew.
Then, they were inside the main control room where the bodies of the Separatist leaders lay. Around them, consoles began to explode in fountains of white hot sparks as the duel intensified.
Again, the two combatants locked sabers when Anakin suddenly thrust out his hand to shove Ahsoka away with the Force. Ahsoka reacted quickly, disengaging with one of her lightsabers, and using the Force to block Anakin's move, causing both of them to be blasted backwards onto control panels on opposite sides of the room.
Anakin recovered first, and lunged back towards Ahsoka, swinging his lightsaber downwards, but Ahsoka was able to dodge the strike in time, and Anakin's blade only sliced through the control panel. Alarms began to blare as the facility's protective ray shields, which were holding back the lava storm, suddenly deactivated.
Fire rained around Anakin and Ahsoka as they fought their way out of the control room, and onto a balcony overlooking the lava flows. Anakin drove his former padawan back, and back, swinging his blade down with almost unnatural strength. Ripping razor sharp shards of steel from the wall with the Force, Anakin flung them at Ahsoka with the full heat of his fury.
Anakin kicked Ahsoka in the face, knocking her backwards, and driving her further and further down the balcony.
At last, the balcony ended, and Ahsoka found herself trapped. Looking over the railing and into a river of lava, she saw only a small pipe connecting the control room to the main collection plant over a river of white-hot molten rock. With little other option, Ahsoka leapt down onto the pipe with perfect balance.
Anakin followed without hesitation, jumping down onto the flexing pipe, and two combatants continued to fight ferociously as they tightrope-walked over the lava river.
Then, Ahsoka backflipped off of the pipe to land down on a coupling nexus of the main collection plant, and when Anakin leapt in pursuit, she was ready to meet him with a flurry of strikes. For a moment, she drove him back, until he suddenly landed a powerful counterblow that knocked one of her lightsabers from her grasp. Ahsoka instantly reached out with the Force to call the lightsaber back to her hand, when Anakin's blade lashed out, and sliced the weapon in half.
Before the shocked Ahsoka could react, the back of Anakin's hand struck her across the face, sending her stumbling backwards again. Recovering quickly, Ahsoka swung at Anakin with her remaining lightsaber just as he lunged at her again.
Catching each other's saber hands, the two grappled with one another. But even as Ahsoka struggled against the physically stronger Anakin, a huge spray of lava suddenly burst up from the molten river to pour down onto the attachments holding up the collector they were standing on. The frame began to melt, and Anakin and Ahsoka were forced to run for cover under the collection cluster as a hail of burning stone rained down on them, scorching their clothes.
They continued to fight in the lava rain, darting from cover to attack, then quickly retreating to cover.
Support for the entire structure began to fall away, and soon, it broke loose, the entire collection cluster falling down into the lava river. Anakin and Ahsoka were both sent skidding and scrambling for handholds on the tilting durasteel slopes. But even as they labored to climb up the now vertical collection arm as it rode down the swift current of the lava river, the two warriors did not let up in their duel.
"Master Kenobi?" a robotic voice called.
Obi-Wan groaned and opened his eyes to find C-3PO standing over him.
"Are you all right?" the worried droid asked.
His head pounding, Obi-Wan slowly sat up, and struggled to regain his bearings.
"I... I..." he started to say, not entirely sure where he was.
Then, the horrifying reality suddenly all came back to him, and he all but shot to his feet, frantically looking around for...
"Oh, no..." Obi-Wan breathed when he saw Padme lying limp and broken on the landing platform, with Anakin's astromech droid, R2-D2 at her side.
Obi-Wan darted over to Padme and crouched next to her. Placing a hand on her head, he felt for a pulse. It was there, thin and erratic.
Then, raising his head, Obi-Wan quickly looked around again, and saw that Anakin and Ahsoka were nowhere to be seen. But the Jedi Master could feel a disturbance in the Force, and he knew that they were out there somewhere.
R2-D2 let out a series of beeps, clearly wanting instructions.
"Master Kenobi, what should we do?" asked C-3PO, who was now close to panicking.
Standing back up, Obi-Wan took off his robe, and took out his lightsaber.
"Get Padme on the ship." he instructed the droids, "I'll be back."
Without another word, Obi-Wan darted off into the hellish landscape, allowing the Force to guide him. He could only hope that he wasn't too late.
Struggling to stay ahead of Anakin, Ahsoka continued to parry his strikes as he climbed after her, while below them, the tower slowly began to melt, burn away, and sink under the lava.
Then, a roar even louder than the volcano's eruption came from somewhere up ahead. Looking up, Ahsoka's heart sank when she saw that they were being carried straight towards a vast lavafall, the river dropping away in a vertical sheet of fire that vanished into boiling clouds and smoking gases. The young Togruta was quick to decide that she DID NOT want to see what awaited at the bottom.
Grabbing a loose cable, Ahsoka leapt from the collection arm, swinging in a wide arc over the fiery river. Quick to follow, Anakin grabbed a cable of his own, and pushed off from the collapsing structure after his padawan, and two combatants exchanged another strike as they swung past each other.
Looking out over the lava, Ahsoka saw a small floating platform heading in her direction. Trusting in the Force, she let go of the cable and landed squarely on the floating platform, then immediately leaned to one side to move it away from the lavafall with a simple shift of her weight.
She turned to watch and with a deafeningly loud metallic shriek like that of the damned, the collection arm crumbled over the brink of the falls, and vanished into an invisible mist of destruction below.
And apparently, it had taken Anakin with it.
Ahsoka bowed her head and whispered, "Goodbye, Anakin..."
But she had spoken too soon, for suddenly, the Force whispered a warning, and Ahsoka looked up just in time to see Anakin come rising out from the billowing smoke above the falls, mounted on a small repulsorlift droid.
Ahsoka began to angle her platform to head for the bank of the lava river, but Anakin's droid was faster, allowing him to swing around his former padawan, and cut her off from the shore.
As Anakin drew nearer, Ahsoka could only stare at her former master, still unable to comprehend how it had all come to this. But there was little time for reflection, as Anakin suddenly used the Force to propel a stream of molten rock up from the lava river, and directly at her. Reacting quickly, Ahsoka thrust out her hands, and threw up a Force barrier to shield herself from the lava.
Undeterred, Anakin decided to up the ante. Unleashing the full power of the Dark Side, he raised his hands outward to summon a massive tidal wave of lava, and sent it hurtling towards his former padawan. Ahsoka watched in horror as the fiery wall of glowing magma rose several meters above her head as it came crashing forward to engulf her.
But then, a strange, calming aura seemed to wash over her, and she recognized it immediately, remembering how the Daughter Of Mortis had used her dying act to transfer her essence into Ahsoka to save her life. Even now, the Daughter was with her; she would always be with her.
Letting the full power of the Light flow through her, Ahsoka held her lightsaber before her with both hands, and reached out with all of her concentration. Before her and Anakin's eyes, the huge lava wave suddenly dissolved back into the river barely a moment before it would've overtaken her.
For a moment, Anakin could only stare at his former padawan in a combination of shock, frustration, and even a touch of pride.
"Anakin, enough! You're my friend! You're my brother!" Ahsoka shouted.
Anakin only seethed, "Then where were you when I needed you most? You turned your back on me just like all the others! After everything I did for you! After I fought to defend your innocence when no one else would!"
"I am sorry for that!" insisted Ahsoka, "I was lost and confused; I couldn't stay. I made a choice!"
"That is your failure, not mine!" Anakin sneered, "I see now that you were all just holding me back, but now the Dark Side has set me free!"
"Perhaps I did fail you." admitted Ahsoka, "But at least I haven't lost myself."
"This is the end for you, Snips. I wish it were otherwise." said Anakin, his voice stone cold.
"Yeah, Skyguy..." Ahsoka replied, "So do I."
Anakin lunged forward in a leaping dive with his lightsaber held before him like a spear. Leaning to the side, Ahsoka deflected the blade, before suddenly flipping backwards off of the floating platform to land on the edge of a nearby cliff overlooking the bank of the lava river.
Snarling a curse of frustration, Anakin leapt into the air off the repulsorlift in a forward flip, intending to land at Ahsoka's back, and drive his lightsaber through her heart from behind.
But the move had been a half a second too slow...
Acting on pure instinct and adrenaline, Ahsoka whirled, bringing her lightsaber up to parry the attack she knew was coming. But her blade did not meet Anakin's blade.
Instead, it met his knee. Then, his other knee.
Ahsoka stepped back as Anakin fell, his severed lower legs already dropping out of sight to the fiery bank below. Dropping his lightsaber, Anakin screamed in agony as Ahsoka watched in horror as her master tumbled over the edge of the cliff.
Darting forward, she dropped to her hands, and knees at the cliff's edge, and threw her gaze downward.
A few feet below, Anakin desperately clung to the rockface, his face twisted by pain and rage. For a long moment, Ahsoka could only stare into her former master's eyes as the realization that she'd just struck him down sank in. And with that realization, came the sudden comprehension of an unexpected profound truth.
Anakin Skywalker, her beloved master and friend, had truly become everything she had devoted her life to destroying...
Murderer. Traitor. Dark Lord Of The Sith.
And yet, despite it all, Ashoka still loved him, and moreover, she found that she couldn't bear to leave him again.
Frantically, she reached out for him, but Anakin was too far down.
"Anakin! Give me your hand!" Ahsoka cried.
Anakin stared at her, the look on his face slowly turning from utter rage to a look of complete impassiveness, though his eyes continued to blaze with the Dark Side.
"Please, Anakin! Take my hand!" pleaded Ahsoka, "They said that you were the Chosen one! That you would destroy the Sith, not join them! Bring balance to the Force, not leave it in darkness! Come with me! It's not too late!"
Through Anakin's stone cold expression, a brief flash of sorrow appeared on his face, and for one fleeting moment, Ahsoka thought that she'd gotten through to him. But in the next moment, Anakin's stone cold gaze returned, and the tender spark had disappeared.
Ahsoka's heart sank as she saw that in Anakin's eyes, it WAS too late. Regardless of what either of them believed, he had done too much, and he couldn't turn away from this path now even if he wanted to. To Anakin, the only thing he could do was end the duel on his own terms.
Don't you let go, Ahsoka wanted to say, but found that she couldn't get the words out.
Anakin let go of the cliff.
"ANAKIN!" Ahsoka could only scream as her former master tumbled down to finally vanish into the smoke and fire of the lava bank below.
For a moment, she thought she could hear terrible screams rising out of the inferno.
But then, there was only silence...
Following the trail of destruction left in the wake of the duel, and using the Force to guide him, Obi-Wan had made his way through the fiery landscape of Mustafar, hoping against hope that he would find Anakin and Ahsoka before it was too late.
Suddenly, he sensed a presence from somewhere up ahead, and put on speed.
And then, there she was, stumbling out of the gray mists of ash like a lost soul emerging from the depths of Hell.
"Ahsoka!" Obi-Wan called out.
He ran to her, and immediately took the young Togruta in his arms as she all but fell into his embrace.
"Anakin..." he inquired, "What happened to Anakin?"
Slowly, Ahsoka looked up at him. Her eyes brimming with tears, she only shook her head, and held up a small object for him to see.
It was Anakin's lightsaber.
Obi-Wan could only stare at the weapon, until at last, his trance was broken when Ahsoka threw her arms around him, and buried her face in his chest as her shoulders heaved with heavy sobs.
"I... I tried to... I tried to save him..." she wept.
"I know..." Obi-Wan reassured her, shredding a few tears himself.
Understanding what she needed, he held her tightly for a very long moment.
Then, there was suddenly a flash of metal through the sky, and Obi-Wan could feel the darkness closing in around them. He knew that ship, it was the Chancellor's, or rather, now the Emperor's shuttle. And he knew that it could mean only one thing...
Yoda had failed.
There was no time to mourn what had been lost, for another Sith Lord was approaching, and they had to leave now.
"Come. We have to go." Obi-Wan said simply, as he began to guide Ahsoka back in the direction of the landing platform, urging her to run.
He urged her to run because Obi-Wan knew that if they were fast enough, there was still something they could do for Anakin. Something that would do honor to the memory of the man they had both loved, and to the vanished order they both had served.
Ahsoka did not protest. But the fact was, her body seemed to be on auto-pilot, as if she were barely even able to register what was happening anymore.
The trek back to the ship passed in an absolute blur to the both of them, until at last, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka stepped back onto the landing platform. As they made their way to the Padme's Naboo skiff, C-3PO headed down the landing ramp to meet them.
"Master Kenobi! Mistress Tano!" the droid called, "R2 and I have Miss Padme on board. Please, please hurry. We should leave this dreadful place."
Ushering Ahsoka on board, Obi-Wan quickly ran to the cockpit, and fired the engines.
A moment later, even as the emperor's shuttle made its approach to the landing platform, the sleek, mirror finished Naboo skiff lifted off, and streaked for the stars.
As the ship left Mustafar's atmosphere, and headed for deep space, Obi-Wan turned towards C-3PO, who was now seated in the co-pilot seat.
"Take the controls." he instructed the droid as he got up from his own seat.
"Of course, sir." C-3PO replied.
Leaving the cockpit, Obi-Wan headed into the back of the ship to find Padme lying on a cot as Ahsoka and R2-D2 kept watch over her.
Walking over, Obi-Wan laid his hand on Padme's shoulder. Slowly, she opened her eyes.
"Obi-Wan? Ahsoka?" she gasped out weakly, "Is Anakin all right?"
Obi-Wan and Ahsoka only looked at her sadly and did not answer. A moment later, Padme dropped back into unconsciousness.
Sadly, Obi-Wan turned back towards Ahsoka, but the young Togruta wasn't even looking at him. Completely overwhelmed, Ahsoka could only crumble down onto the cot opposite of Padme, cover her face with her hands, and burst back into tears as horrible sobs spurted out of her.
She had managed to briefly regain her composure in order to escape the planet with Obi-Wan, but now, the full weight of everything that had happened, of what was STILL happening, suddenly came flooding back in to overwhelm her.
She couldn't stop it. It was too much. It was all just too much...
Obi-Wan sadly lowered his gaze. He knew that there was nothing to say, nothing he could do except let her grieve, as he himself surely would. And so, without a word, the Jedi Master sadly made his way back into the cockpit, leaving Ahsoka alone with her anguish.
Letting out a mournful whine, R2-D2 scooted over to Ahsoka to offer whatever comfort he could, however futile it may be. Ahsoka didn't look up, but she placed a thankful hand on the droid's dome to let him know that she was appreciative of his efforts.
Back down on Mustafar, under the red thunder of a volcano, an Imperial shuttle set down on the landing platform where the Naboo skiff had taken off only a few minutes before. As the landing ramp lowered, black-cloaked figure, escorted by a squad of clone troopers emerged from the craft, and began to make it's way out into the fiery landscape.
Darth Sidious, now Emperor Palpatine of the Galactic Empire, reached out with the Dark Side of the Force, and let it guide him towards the one he was searching for.
At last, Palpatine, and his clones arrived near the edge of a lava river where a charred, smoking form, little more than the head and torso of what had once been a man, weakly clawed it's way up the fiery bank with it's one remaining hand. Both of it's legs were gone, severed at the knee, and it's left hand had been burned away leaving only a blackened stump.
"You're majesty! This way!" called one of the clones.
"There he is! He's still alive." Palpatine observed, "Get a medical capsule immediately."
"Yes, sir. Right away." the clone captain acknowledged.
As several of the clones ran back to the shuttle, Palpatine carefully made his way down the slope and knelt next to the burned, dismembered form that had been Anakin Skywalker.
Placing a hand on the blackened, and cracked mess that had been Anakin's brow, the Sith Lord set his will upon him.
"Live, Lord Vader. Live, my apprentice. Live."
Coming out of hyperspace, the Naboo skiff flashed towards an alien medical facility situated in the asteroid belt of Polis Massa. Waiting on the landing platform, Grandmaster Yoda, Senator Bail Organa, and a small ground crew anxiously watched as the ship set down, and the ramp lowered to reveal Obi-Wan Kenobi, carrying the unconscious Padme in his arms, followed by Ahsoka, R2-D2, and C-3PO.
"We'll take her to the medical center, quickly." urged Senator Organa, leading Obi-Wan on into the facility.
Her face streaked with tears, a despondent Ahsoka stopped, and looked at Master Yoda. The Jedi Master shared a tender moment with her, for he could feel her emotional torment, and she could feel his. Overcome with sorrow, Ahsoka sank to her knees, again thinking back to the moment she had left the Jedi Order, the last time she'd seen him in person, and again could only wonder if things would've been different had she only stayed.
"I'm sorry, Master Yoda..." she choked out, her voice barely more than a whisper, I'm... I'm so..."
"Your failure this was not." Yoda somberly assured her, "Mine it was. Failed the galaxy the Jedi did, and failed Jedi I did. Too old I was, and too rigid, too arrogant we became to see that the old way was not the only way. Evolved our enemy had, and too blind we were to see that the galaxy had changed while changed the Order had not, because let it change I did not. Too late I was to see that destroying us from within our enemy had been."
Despite her grief, Ahsoka was taken aback. Never before had she heard Master Yoda being so open, nor for that matter, so self-condemnatory. This was nothing like the day she'd left the Jedi Order after Master Windu had neglected to admit the Jedi Council's mistakes when she'd been framed for the Jedi Temple bombing, instead insisting that her terrible ordeal had been the will of the Force.
No, Yoda was freely admitting his own faults and the faults of the Jedi Order.
"Master Yoda..." Ahsoka breathed.
Yoda sadly looked her in the eye, "Sorry I am, Ahsoka. Sorry I am for everything."
With tears welling in her eyes, Ahsoka wordlessly embraced the Jedi Grandmaster, an embrace that he tenderly returned.
A short time later, Obi-Wan, Yoda, Ahsoka, R2-D2, C-3PO, and Bail Organa all stood in one of the medical facility's observation rooms, watching anxiously as the medical droids worked feverishly on Padme in the operation theater.
At last, one of the droids came into the observation room.
"We are losing her." the droid said grimly.
"She's dying?" a shocked Obi-Wan asked.
Stunned, Ahsoka was at a complete loss for words. She just couldn't believe it. Not Padme to...
"I'm very sorry." continued the medical droid, "She has lost the will to live. We need to operate quickly if we are to save the babies."
Senator Organa blinked, "Babies?!"
"She's carrying twins." the droid clarified.
"Save them, we must." Yoda declared, "They are our last hope."
Far away from Polis Massa, a dark rainstorm poured over Coruscant as Palpatine's shuttle entered the planet's atmosphere and landed at newly renamed Imperial Reconstruction Center. Exiting the shuttle, and stepping onto the landing platform, the emperor, and the squad of clones began to make their way into awaiting structure as Anakin's body was carried along in the floating medical capsule, still barely clinging to life.
Obi-Wan and Ahsoka stood at Padme's side, each holding one of her cold, still hands in both of theirs.
"Don't give up, Padme." implored Ahsoka.
"Is... Is it...?" Padme tried to ask, her eyes rolling blindly.
"We'll see in a minute. You must stay with us." Obi-Wan instructed.
Beneath the opaque tent that shrouded Padme from chest down, a surgical droid assisted with her labor as a general medical droid tinkered and fussed over a clutter of scanners and equipment.
Suddenly, Padme began to cry out in pain, until at last, there finally came the wailing a newborn, and then the surgical droid came circling around from behind the tent, cradling in it's padded arms, a tiny infant.
"It's a boy." the droid said, handing the newborn to Ahsoka.
For brief a moment, the young Togruta could only stare mesmerized at the baby in her arms. Anakin and Padme's baby. It almost didn't seem real...
"Luke..." Padme gasped out.
Snapped out of her reverie, Ahsoka carefully brought the infant over to Padme, who offered up a weak smile as she struggled to touch her newborn son on the forehead.
"Oh, Luke."
The surgical droid returned to the opaque tent as Padme's contractions restarted. Crying out again, Padme gave her remaining child everything she had left, until at last, the surgical droid reappeared with the second baby nestled in it's arms.
"It's a girl." said Obi-Wan, taking the baby from the droid, and showing it to Padme.
"Leia..." she sighed, before falling back against her pillow, the last of her strength spent.
A devastated Ahsoka knew that the end was near. As much as she wanted to believe that Padme would pull through, she could sense that her friend's vitals were failing.
"Padme, you have twins." she said desperately, "They need you... Please, hang on."
"I can't..." Padme whispered.
"Save your energy." urged Obi-Wan.
Through the Force, Obi-Wan felt Yoda's approach and he looked up to see him beside Bail Organa, both staring the same grave question through the surgical theater's observation panel. The only answer Obi-Wan could give them was a helpless shake of the head.
"Obi-Wan... Ahsoka..." Padme breathed, "There... is good in him. I know there is ... still..."
Her voice faded, and with a final sigh, she sagged back against the pillow, and lay still.
She was gone.
Obi-Wan bowed his head in sorrow, the newborn Leia cradled in his arms. Across from him, Ahsoka held the newborn Luke tightly against her chest as tears streamed down her cheeks as the full weight of all that had been lost washed over her.
Padme. Anakin. Master Plo Koon. Her clones. So many friends gone, along with everything they had ever fought for.
Not since she had been a youngling had Ahsoka ever felt so helpless. So utterly defeated.
Inside the Imperial Reconstruction Center on Coruscant, a DD-13 cybernetic surgical droid moved away from the figure lying on the surgical table that it, and an FX-6 medical assistant droid had spent several days rebuilding.
"My lord..." it beckoned to a dark-robed shadow standing nearby, "The construction is finished. He lives."
"Good. Good." Emperor Palpatine mused.
Stepping towards the rim of the surgical table as it began to rotate to a vertical position, the Dark Lord marveled at this great project as the sound of heavy mechanical breathing filled the air.
To summize, it might have been considered a pieced together hybrid of droid and human encased in a gleaming light-support shell of obsidian. The jointed limbs might have seemed clumsy, ungainly, perhaps even monstrous. The featureless orbs of black that served it for eyes appeared inhuman, and the under thrust grill work of its vocabulator might have suggested the jaws of some primordial predator constructed from polished blast armor.
To the Emperor, it was magnificent. The greatest treasure of the Sith.
He leaned closer, and asked, "Lord Vader, can you hear me?"
"Yes, master." Darth Vader said at last, before then asking, "Where is Padme? Is she safe? Is she all right?"
I'm very sorry, Lord Vader, but I'm afraid she died." replied Palpatine, "It seems in your anger, you killed her."
The words burned even hotter than the lava had, and a low groan emanates from Vader's mask.
"I... I couldn't have... She was alive! I felt it! IT'S NOT POSSIBLE! "
Suddenly, the droids and equipment in the room began to implode as Vader broke free from the restraints to the table and staggered forward. As the Dark Lord raised his fists towards the ceiling, and bellowed in anguish, objects began to fly around the room in a maelstrom of Dark Side energy.
As the agonized screams of his apprentice echoed throughout the building, Palpatine only grinned.
Enroute to Padme's home planet of Naboo, Obi-Wan, Yoda, Ahsoka, and Bail Organa all met in secret around a conference table on Tantive IV to decide the fate of the twins, and the future of the galaxy.
"Pregnant, Padme's body must still appear." Yoda instructed, "Hidden, safe, the children must be kept. Foundation of the new Jedi Order they will be."
"We must take them somewhere the Sith will not sense their presence." said Obi-Wan.
Yoda nodded, "Split up, they should be."
"But to where?" Ahsoka asked.
"My wife and I will take the girl." Senator Organa volunteered, "We've always talked of adopting a baby girl. She will be loved with us."
Obi-Wan nodded, "And what of the boy?"
"To Tatooine. To his family, send him." Yoda decided.
"I will take the child and watch over him." vowed Obi-Wan.
Ahsoka looked up, "Master Yoda, do you think Anakin's twins will be able to defeat the Sith, and right the wrongs of the Jedi?"
"Strong the Force runs, in the Skywalker line. Only hope, we can..." replied Yoda, before looking at her intently "And what of you, Ahsoka?"
Ahsoka was silent for a very long moment. The truth was, she had no idea where she'd go now. She knew that she would have a part to play in the journey of the Skywalker twins, but after all that had happened, and everything she'd been through, she didn't feel ready for it at all.
The truth was, Ahsoka felt the same way she had when she'd left the Jedi Order: confused, and full of emotional turmoil. And just as she had then, she needed to find herself and her own purpose.
"I don't know." she finally said, "I guess I'll just have to keep walking my own path to find out. But whenever you or Anakin's children need me, I'll be there."
Yoda nodded in understanding, "Then settled it is. Until the time is right, disappear we will."
With that, Bail Organa stood and headed toward the door, eager to inform his wife of good news. Obi-Wan and Ahsoka stood to follow, but Yoda suddenly held up a hand to stop them.
"Master Kenobi, Ahsoka, wait a moment." the Jedi Master urged, "In your solitude, training I have for the two of you."
Taken aback, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka could only exchange confused looks.
"Training?" questioned Obi-Wan.
"An old friend has learned the path to immortality." said Yoda, "One who has returned from the netherworld of the Force."
"Who?" Ahsoka asked, intrigued.
Yoda smiled, "Obi-Wan's old master."
"Qui-Gon..." Obi-Wan was speechless, "But... How...?"
"The secret of the Ancient Order of the Whills, he studied." Yoda explained, "How to commune with him I will teach you. Both of you."
The following days would be filled with great sorrow.
Padme's funeral would take place in the Naboo capital city of Theed. Thousands of mourners had come to pay their respects to their beloved senator and former queen, including Queen Apailana, Governor Sio Bibble, Gungan representative Jar Jar Binks, former Gungan Boss Rugor Nass, her handmaidens, and of course her family and friends.
Padme's body lay in a flower-draped open casket drawn through the city streets through the Triumphal Arch by four beautiful white gualaars. As had been instructed, her body was made to appear as though she died pregnant. She had been dressed in a blue gown with small white blossoms and ribbons in her hair to give the appearance of floating in water. And finally, in her hands she clasped the japor snippet that her husband had carved for her shortly after they had first met.
Senator Bail Organa stood beside fellow Senator Mon Mothma, and watched solemnly as the funeral procession marched by. But even in his grief, Bail couldn't help but think about Obi-Wan, Yoda, and Ahsoka. The two Jedi Masters, and former Jedi Padawan had departed the planet that very morning to head off into their respective exiles.
Bail could only wish them luck.
Then, glancing up, he noticed a hooded figure standing in the crowd, and almost started when he recognized her.
Ahsoka?! What is she doing here? the senator wondered, I thought she left this morning with Obi-Wan and Yoda...
Then, in the next moment, the young Togruta vanished from sight and disappeared back into crowd.
"Excuse me..." Senator Organa quietly said to Mon Mothma before quickly making to follow the young Togruta.
Maneuvering through the crowd, and making his way into the Theed Royal Palace, Bail finally caught up to Ahsoka as she was walking through a row of columns.
"What are you doing here?" the senator called, "You were supposed to leave with the others. Why take such a risk?"
Lowing her hood, Ahsoka slowly turned to face him, "She was my friend. I couldn't leave without saying goodbye."
Her words sounded like they had been forced out through pain.
Bail lowered his gaze, knowing that he couldn't understand how she felt. Unlike him, Ahsoka had actually been there. She had accompanied Padme to Mustafar, and had watched as Anakin struck down his own wife. And she had been the one to try save her beloved master from the Dark Side, only to fail.
"There wasn't anything more you could have done. For either of them." he tried to assure her.
Ahsoka clearly look uncertain, still tormented by the fact that she hadn't been there for Anakin due to leaving the Jedi Order. But before either could say another word, Bail noticed with alarm that a clone trooper patrol was approaching.
"There's a patrol coming." he warned, stepping towards her, "You must leave. Where is your ship?"
"The river." Ahsoka replied.
"This way." the senator instructed, leading her down a hallway.
At last, they came to a balcony situated above the cliffs overlooking the river. As Ahsoka began to climb over the railing, Bail suddenly stopped her, and held out a commlink.
"Here." he offered, "If you need anything, you can contact me with this."
Taking the commlink, Ahsoka nodded gratefully before disappearing over the side of railing just as the clone trooper patrol came up behind Bail Organa.
"You there." she heard one of the clones say as she hid on the cliff ledge underneath the balcony, listening.
"What can I do for you, officer?" the senator replied.
"Let's see some identification." the clone officer ordered, "I'm afraid no one's allowed back here Senator. Imperial orders."
Bail dutifully handed them his ID, "Forgive me. These trying times have left me... confused. Still, we have a duty, don't we. An obligation to uphold when we're able. And if you should ever need anything, please contact me."
With that, Senator Bail Organa allowed the clones to escort him back to the funeral.
Ahsoka slowly, and carefully made her way down the side of the cliff to the river below. All the while, Senator Organa's words continued to resonate throughout her mind.
He had been talking to her, not the clones. That she knew.
At last, she leapt down onto the riverbank, and began to walk back to the small ship that the senator had procured for her that morning. Against better judgement, she'd chosen to stay and pay her respects to Padme before she left.
Now, it was time to go.
She still didn't actually know where she was going; wherever the Force guided her, she guessed.
Ahsoka thought back to what Yoda had told her and Obi-Wan about communing with Master Qui-Gon Jinn to learn how to become one with the Force. She had never met Qui-Gon Jinn, for he had died when she was very young, but both Anakin and Obi-Wan had spoken fondly of him before. Could she really communicate with the netherworld, and learn from him the greatest secrets of the Force?
She could only hope so.
At last, Ahsoka arrived at her ship, but for a long moment, she just stood there in deep contemplation as the events of the past several days once again caught up with her.
Order 66. Saving Rex. Burying the clones. Reuniting with Padme and Obi-Wan. Traveling to Mustafar. Her terrible duel with Anakin. The birth of Luke and Leia. Padme's death...
It still almost didn't seem like it had been real. But it had. It had ALL been real.
The long night had begun. The Jedi Order was gone. The Republic had been overtaken by the Empire. So many friends had been lost, and now Ahsoka found herself cast adrift in a darkening galaxy hostile to her kind.
Suddenly, the call of a bird snapped Ahsoka back to the present, and she looked up to see a convor with white & green feathers, and green eyes perched on the hull of her ship, looking down at her.
Morai, the spiritual manifestation of the Daughter...
Suddenly, in spite of the bleak circumstances, Ahsoka found herself smiling as she remembered that the Daughter would always be watching over her. Moreover, she knew that even in this great darkness that had descended upon the galaxy, there were still sparks of light and hope to be found by those with the will to seek them out.
Climbing into the cockpit of her ship, a new resolve began to fill Ahsoka's being as Bail Organa's words repeated in her head. The senator had been right. There was a duty, and an obligation for them to uphold, and as she had promised Master Yoda, Ahsoka would be there when the time came.
For one day, through Anakin's children, the galaxy would see the birth of a new dawn.
A new beginning.
A new hope.
THE END.