The trip to Malachor opened up lots of wounds.

For Skyguy and Snips.

When he hears her voice for the first time in fifteen years, ringing out across the Sith temple, still holding that little bit of bite, Vader immediately squashes that tiny bit of Anakin Skywalker; that little bit of hope. He is not that person and this woman is nothing.

He faces her and, again, has to squash the pride that welled up inside him. Despite being in her thirties, despite the hardships she obviously faced, despite how much she's grown, this is still Ahsoka Tano; his, no, Anakin Skywalker's, Padawan. She stands there, Lekku longer, Montrals taller, stripes and face-markings both different and the same, taller but still thinly built, the light thrown from the temple reminding him of that day and he watches as her lips press together in a thin line and her face hardens and her hands tighten on her lightsabers and he remembers.

But that one moment is gone, buried under the hatred for the Jedi and the sorrow of losing Padmé and everyone, and Ahsoka, and he greets her for the first time in fifteen years. There's no 'good to see you, Skyguy', no 'Hello Snips', no real shred of acknowledgement between them until she snarls that she thought she knew who he was and for that moment, once again, he feels conflicted.

That is when he decides that she is clearly a threat. How dare she make him feel this conflicted? She is one person that Anakin Skywalker knew years ago and Darth Vader is clearly not that man anymore. Anakin Skywalker was weak and he is gone and he tells her as much. There's a flash of pain, as if she was expecting to be greeted with open arms or something similarly as stupid, and then a familiar glare comes over her face.

"Then I will avenge his death."

Without missing a beat, he responds; "Revenge is not the Jedi way."

Had she really fallen that far?

The pain returns and he wants to be Anakin at the moment. This woman was like his sister, his daughter, his closest friend next to Obi-Wan Kenobi (no don't think about them now). He'd long promised to never hurt her and look where they were now.

Her statement of "I am no Jedi." shocks him and he remembers the first time he met her, their first few missions.

"I am a Jedi Knight… or soon will be."

There was so much pride in her voice about the ranking, so much potential and belief. Where has it vanished to?

As she draws her sabers, Darth Vader wonders when that goal was destroyed. Was it really when those stupid Council members expelled her? Or was she still holding on to the days of old? Was it Order 66? He laughed in his mind. Ahsoka had as much right to hate the Order as he did; it would be easy to lure her over. So he draws his own lightsaber and braces for her attack.

Ahsoka has always been fast; a trait dominate in the Togruta species, and she dodges his blows with grace and ease. She still holds her lightsabers backwards; a habit he, no - Anakin, never broke her out of. When he turns her, he'll make sure that she learns how to do it right. He's lucky that Anakin Skywalker was at least physically strong because he can push her back with ease. He doesn't want to leave the Holocron but Ahsoka's not letting him move towards it, towards the teenage that lay cowering on the floor moments earlier.

So they fight, lightsabers flashing and Vader stares in the familiar eyes. There's a sorrow there, deep down. She hates doing this, he can tell. But there's anger. Not the same anger that drives him; no. It's righteous anger, it's the anger of all those he's struck down. Vader realises that Ahsoka is more dangerous than he thought. She won't turn to the dark side. It's in her eyes, clear as day. Ahsoka isn't turning to the dark side but she's also no longer aligned with the light.

This woman isn't Snips and his heart hardens, finally crushing Anakin Skywalker. This woman isn't who she seems, she's not here to outstretch her hand and lead him back. She strikes to harm, to kill in that vicious way she always had and he knows that she doesn't see him as Anakin Skywalker.

She sees him as Darth Vader and he is a threat to her friends, her cause and her own life.

He doesn't know how long the fight goes on. One part of his brain drifts away, thinking of it as a simple sparring match between them, when she was smaller and he was less angry. But when her sabers get too close to his head and he brings his own up to clash with them, he realises then and there that she's thinking the same thing. She's seeing what he sees and she hates it.

He gestures, sending her flying off the wall and storms back towards the Holocron. He is not leaving without it. The boy has a friend, a man wearing a Temple Guardian mask, and they're pulling the Holocron free. Darth Vader feels the wave of energy and he scowls beneath his mask, watching as they move to leave and one hand extending to pull it towards him.

The man catches the boy. Vader can hear words being yelled between the two and he tightens his grip. The boy's eyes flit behind him for a moment and he turns. Something lands on his chest, his saber is deflected and for a mere moment, he sees Ahsoka's face before a flash of white takes over his vision.

He cries out in pain, falling, and he hears the clunk as part of his mask breaks away and hits the ground. Air brushes against his face and he's shocked by her action. She knew who he was and it didn't matter. Her lightsaber was aimed to kill him. Again, that proud sensation wells up in his chest. He, because he can't deny that he and Anakin Skywalker are the same person, taught her well.

He can hear the boy yelling for Ahsoka, his eyes flitting over to see her pushing herself up from the ground and her name slips out of his lips. She freezes, turning around in shock and their eyes meet.

"Ahsoka." He repeats her name, not caring that his voice box was breaking and that he is beginning to talk with Anakin's voice, and she replies, "Anakin."

They stand, her eyes studying him, fingers tightening on her sabers like she always did and then her shoulders straighten.

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

He can feel the sun on his skin for a moment. The smell of Coruscant wafts around him, his hair moves in the slight wind. The temple is behind him, the stairs are in front of him. Ahsoka stands, eyes teary but shoulder's drawn together.

"Why… are you doing this?"

"The council didn't trust me," she replies, turning away from him, "so how can I trust myself?"

"What about me? I believed in you, I stood by you."

"I know you believe in me, Anakin, and I'm grateful for that. But this isn't about you. I can't stay here any longer. Not now."

"The Jedi Order is your life. You can't just throw it away like this. Ahsoka, you are making a mistake!"

"Maybe." Her words are strong. "But I have to sort this out on my own. Without the council. And without you."

"I understand. More than you realise, I understand wanting to walk away from the Order."

"I know."

Ahsoka's eyes narrow at him and he knows she's thinking the same thing. The wind rustles his cape and he realises for the first time what she's doing. She's standing on those steps, silently pleading with him to let her help him like he tried to do all those years ago.

His eyes narrow in anger. She left.

"Then you will die."

His voice box is broken and he can hear Anakin Skywalker's voice ringing out over the temple. Ahsoka narrows her eyes in return, pressing her lips together and she turns away from him to send the boy flying backwards, out of the temple before catching his lightsaber against her own.

The fight is a blur and he doesn't remember what happens honestly. His vision is often clouded with memories and he knows she's experiencing the same.

The last thing he remembers is her eyes. Still full of life and emotion and, as he crawls away from the wrecked temple, he buries those emotions for the last time.

The 501st lands on Malachor, Hawk carefully lowering the gang plank but none of them move. There is a chance that Ahsoka didn't walk away from this and none of them are ready to accept that fate.

Rex moves first, one hand grabbing his helmet, tucking it under his arm, and his other hand holding his blaster. "Are we ready?"

There isn't any need for ranks on this mission. In fact, Sato didn't even know they were gone. This was something they all agreed needed to be done alone. Without the rebellion. The clones stand slowly, faces grim and disembarked the ship. The surface of the planet was rocky and barren but a large wreckage stood out. A convor flew overhead, song calling out as they trudged to the wreckage. There were familiar signs of lightsabers on the walls, leaving long, charred lines, and the whole temple was destroyed, appearing to have occurred due to a blast.

Rex goes in first, his helmet on his head and his blaster in his hands and they all walk down the winding paths silently. There was no noise, the place is silent. The walls are black and Rex can hear the occasional person stopping to study the runes on the wall in curiosity before they jog to catch up. Upon reaching a fork in the road, there was no need for discussions, the clones breaking up into two groups. Slowly the groups become smaller and smaller as the tunnels continued to spread until Rex was by himself, walking as calmly as possible through the dark temple.

He reaches a large open area with a large pyramid-like structure in the middle. There are large chunks of the roof laying haphazardly around the room and the only light descends from a hole in the ceiling. He walks around the pyramid, surveying the room once again, before sighing.

There was one last doorway on the far-side of the room. Parts of the roof had fallen around it, making it appear in the shape of a triangle. Hoping for the best, Rex walked towards it, stepping inside. A familiar figure appeared in his gaze. She sat calmly, legs folded, head bent, and hands in lap. Her limbs were bandaged with parts of her uniform and she was covered in soot and dirt and grim. Not that that wasn't an unfamiliar sight.

Ahsoka turns her head to face him and smiled.

There was going to be more honestly but I thought this would be a good way to end it. Until I can think of more ideas, this story will be marked as complete but I will add more chapters if I get inspiration. Originally this chapter was just going to be a oneshot in regards to how Vader saw the fight on Malachor but it slowly descended into whatever this is.

This is based on the strong belief that Ahsoka is alive and I refuse to think anything else. Of course, the bad things still happen and Ezra is still the depressed blueberry that he is now but I refuse to allow Ahsoka to die.

There are quotes in here from the Wrong Jedi, a scene I'm sure many of you recognise. Okay, final disclaimer; I don't own this universe. Mainly because I'm not smart enough to come up with stuff like all this. Thanks to everyone who read my story, favourited it, followed it and reviewed it. You're lifesavers!