At last…

At last he had them.

The strength of Darth Vader's Force grip completely overwhelmed the naive Padawan, Ezra Bridger, as well as his recently blinded Master, Kanan Jarrus.

"No, no, n- n- no!" The panic in Ezra's voice was clear, as neither he nor Kanan could move a muscle, straining themselves to keep the Holocron in their grasp.

"Kanan! It's him!" Ezra exclaimed, tugging with all of his might.

"I know…" Kanan responded, gripping onto Ezra's arm to prevent Vader from pulling him towards him. "I got you!" He tried to reassure his apprentice.

Vader's chilling breathing drew ever closer, only instilling their growing fears that perhaps… they weren't getting out of this one.

They had been so close, and Ahsoka had distracted Vader for as long as she could, but it was only a matter of time before Vader would snatch the Holocron, and chop them down…

He was just too powerful…

But then, a flash of white was seen in the corner of Ezra's eyes, hope returning to him briefly.

It was Ahsoka, who had survived the earlier lightsaber exchanges with the Dark Lord!

Ahsoka rushed forward, her eyes narrowed, determined to stop Darth Vader and the Empire from snatching the Holocron, her dual wielding white lightsabers at the ready.

So many innocent lives were at risk! And that was something she just could not allow…

Darth Vader's eyes partially widened under his helmet, loosening his grip on the Holocron and turning around, lightsaber in hand, determined to extinguish the brave soul who dared to charge at him.

However-

KKSHH!

"Agh!" Darth Vader groaned as his helmet was slashed by one of Ahsoka's lightsabers, too late to counter the attack.

Ahsoka fell to the ground, having leapt at Vader and using all of her power in the blow, while Vader was now on his knees, his breathing a bit labored from the strike.

"Ahsoka! C'mon, hurry!" Ezra called out, already limping back to the ship to leave Malachor immediately.

Ahsoka struggled to get back to her feet, taking some deep breaths due to the already exhausting duel taking a bit of a toll on her.

However, just before she could fully stand up-

"Ahsoka…"

Ahsoka's eyes widened at this, her entire form completely frozen for a moment.

The voice from Vader had still sounded so robotic, yet…

Familiar.

Ahsoka turned around to face Vader, her entire form trembling.

She saw the Dark Lord on the ground, still breathing in a labored manner due to the damage caused by her previous blow. He almost looked defenseless, but Ahsoka was no fool…

She kept her guard up.

Darth Vader's head finally turned to face her, revealing the shattered part of his mask, as well as part of his face, for the first time…

"Ahsoka…" Vader spoke once more, this time the pure tone of his voice a lot clearer.

'No… It- It can't be…' Ahsoka thought to herself, taking more deep breaths of her own. She had her suspicions, but now it was all but confirmed…

"Anakin…" Ahsoka's tone was as soft as butter, her guard momentarily down as the memories of her former Master began to flood her mind.

The yellow in his eyes showed that he was a monster, but… The softer and more genuine tone of Vader's voice showed that perhaps… Anakin could still be there!

Vader finally stood up to his feet, his cape flowing behind him as Master and Padawan look each other in the eye, in a window of momentary silence.

A tear came to Ahsoka's eye, but she quickly fought it back, wanting to speak her mind to whatever was left of Anakin while he was still here.

"I won't leave you!" Ahsoka exclaimed, full of passion and her words genuine. She shook her head, as shame and guilt from their past was visibly seen on her face. "Not this time…"

Vader froze. He was stunned by Ahsoka's words, as it took him right back to that moment in Coruscant…

"Ahsoka, wait!" The voice of Anakin called out, chasing after his Padawan, whom moments ago had just confessed that she wasn't coming back to the Jedi Order… "Ahsoka, I need to talk to you!"

The memory stung Vader real bad… He hated to admit it, but a part of him still did care about Ahsoka a lot. She was one of his closest friends…

"I have to sort this out on my own…" The voice of Ahsoka spoke in Vader's memory. "Without the Council… And without you…"

Vader's eyes went from calm, to angered. His brow furrowed as his breathing grew even louder, the rage within him beginning to return.

'No! She was Skywalker's ally!' Vader thought to himself, before he finally broke the silence to Ahsoka,

"Then you will die!"

Vader's lightsaber ignited, a red glow illuminating on his face, the Dark Side taking over once more… As it should be!

Ahsoka's hopeful expression fell, as she saw her former Master stalk towards her, ready to cut her down without hesitation.

"Ahsoka!"

The voice of Ezra was heard, as Ahsoka risked a glance behind her. She saw the boy running in her direction, presumably to help save her.

But they had a job to do…

Ahsoka used her Force Push to knock Ezra off balance before he could run through the lowering doors.

Just in the nick of time, Ahsoka's eyes widened, igniting her lightsabers and blocking what would have been a killing blow directly behind her from Vader's lightsaber.

"No! Noooo!" Ahsoka heard Ezra yell as the doors finally closed, leaving only her and Vader inside.

"Ragh!" Ahsoka exclaimed, using her energy to push Vader away from her, finally turning around to face him in a more defensive stance.

Vader's labored breathing still droned on as he swung multiple more times with powerful, yet precise strikes, all of which Ahsoka blocked while being pushed backwards.

On the final swing, their sabers interlocked, Vader's might forcing Ahsoka down a little bit.

Ahsoka looked into Vader's exposed eye once again, the rage in his expression never fading. She knew she was outmatched, but she also knew that the Temple would collapse before long… If Vader was to die in there with her, then at least it would have been a good service done for the Rebels…

But that was just the thing… There was still time, and nothing left to lose…

"Anakin, please! Listen to me!" Ahsoka pleaded, her voice calm.

"That name, holds no meaning to me anymore!" Vader exclaimed in an authoritative tone. "He was weak! He only got in the way of true power!"

"And what power is that!?" Ahsoka spoke more firmly. "Being a slave to Palpatine!?"

"I am not a slave!" Vader growled, pushing Ahsoka back even further, their lightsabers hissing as they collided.

"Anakin-"

"Don't call me that!" Vader cut her off, full of rage. "Lest you wish for your demise to be slow and painful!"

Ahsoka's eyes closed briefly, before they opened back up to show slight tears in her eyes.

"Whatever happened, Anakin?..." Ahsoka softly spoke. "Whatever happened to the man who trained me? The man, who never stopped believing in me, despite my shortcomings? Whatever happened to the noble Jedi and friend I knew all those years ago?..."

Vader very much wanted to respond, but instead he said nothing. He was running out of time, and he needed to dispose of her quickly so that he could escape.

However, as he pulled away to think of a new strategy of attack-

"I just-" Ahsoka sighed, a tear rolling down her cheek. "I just want Skyguy back…"

Vader froze once more.

He… had not heard her call him that since…

Vader's expression then softened once again, his fists tightening up even more, as the conflict ran wild in his mind.

Memories of the good times; memories of Anakin, began to flood Vader's mind, rendering him… confused.

"You're reckless, little one…" Anakin spoke, as one memory in particular came to him. "You never would have made it as Obi-Wan's Padawan…"

Vader stared into Ahsoka's eyes, as more tears began to fall down her face, her guard all but lowered now… Both mentally and physically, she was drained, and vulnerable as a result.

A stray tear even started to come to… Vader's eye as the memory made itself far clearer to him.

Anakin smiled at the ashamed Ahsoka, whose more direct actions very much mirrored his own when he was a Padawan.

"But you might make it as mine…" Anakin spoke, Ahsoka's face beaming as the memory faded into obscurity.

PSHH!

Darth Vader's lightsaber deactivated, as he briefly fell to his knees, his mind suffering an endless conflict.

Ahsoka in turn deactivated her own, before wiping her tears away, trying to compose herself. She began to lean against the wall that Vader had earlier pushed her towards, trying to regain at least a bit of her energy.

However, in that moment, multiple chunks of sudden large debris fell from the ceiling, directly towards Ahsoka.

It appeared that the damaged temple was at last, beginning to come down around them…

Ahsoka hadn't seen the debris in time to react, and she simply flinched, accepting her fate.

But… her death never came. In fact, it was almost as though someone had stopped the debris from hitting her.

Opening her eyes, she saw Vader holding up his hand, using the Force to stop the debris from killing Ahsoka. He was still knelt down on his knees, as he moved the debris to the side.

Ahsoka was stunned by such an action, wondering just why on earth Vader had this sudden change of heart…

The debris finally fell out of Vader's grasp, before he began to stand back up to his feet, his breathing even worse due to straining himself with his suit damaged.

However, Vader was shocked when he felt Ahsoka wrap his arm around her body, helping him up to his feet to support him.

The two looked each other in the eye once again, but… Vader's eye actually had a hint of blue in it this time. It was very subtle, but it was there.

"I… don't know if this changes anything, but…" Ahsoka said, before Vader was taken aback by her embrace.

Ahsoka's head rested on his shoulder, as another tear began to form, leaving Vader in a frozen state.

"I miss you, Anakin…" Ahsoka began to speak from the heart. "And I love you, always… You were, and always will be… my greatest friend."

Vader continued to stand there as Ahsoka embraced him, absorbing the words she was speaking to him.

He could easily kill her right now… She was so vulnerable that it would be an effortless task.

But what happened next shocked even Vader.

He hugged her back…

His arms trembled slightly, as they wrapped around his former Padawan.

If only for this short amount of time, it felt… really nice to have this moment of bliss, with one he once so fondly cared about…

It didn't take long, however, before Vader shoved Ahsoka off of him, his expression stiffening once more.

"The Rebels have fled…" Vader spoke, now well aware that their ship had left the planet by this point. He now looked to Ahsoka, before turning the opposite way. "I give you this opportunity to do the same… And do it quickly, before I change my mind…"

Ahsoka frowned, stepping forward and holding a hand out,

"Anakin-"

"No!" Vader exclaimed, before igniting his lightsaber once more. "Get out of here! Go! Before my patience wears thin…"

Ahsoka looked down, visibly disappointed to see that the moment didn't last long, but at the very least… she saw that there was still good in him…

That there was still hope for Anakin…

Ahsoka did as Vader said, running to escape the Temple. However, just before she left the room, Ahsoka turned to Vader one last time, saying,

"I promise I will not give up on you, Master…" Ahsoka smiled weakly, before she added. "I know that there's still good in you."

With that, Ahsoka finally turned around, glancing at Vader one final time, before making her escape from the crumbling Temple.

"Lord Vader…"

Vader heard the familiar voice of Emperor Palpatine speak to him via a transmission. More than likely, he wanted a report on the mission…

"Lord Vader, has the Holocron been retrieved?" Emperor Palpatine asked of him.

Vader stood there, watching Ahsoka's fleeing form, before she disappeared from his sight…

Part of him just wanted to chase after her, just as he did back at the Jedi Temple all those years ago…

But he knew that this was different…

She wasn't leaving him this time…

It was instead he, who was leaving her...