A/N: This is an older story idea, I had actually written a good bit of, but never posted it. In a huge writing mood and I figured why not edit this and post it. This takes place in Twilight of the Apprentice part 2 from Rebels, but since none of the Rebels characters make an appearance, I didn't want to put it in that section so it's here in Star Wars. Either way, hope you enjoy.

Summary: The explosion of the Sith Temple places Darth Vader and Ahsoka in a situation neither of them imagined possible. Now in an unfamiliar place that is eerily similar to Mortis, Darth Vader and Ahsoka must face the echoes of their past and work together to find their way back home.

Chapter One: Mysterious Places 1/3

"Ahsoka."

The Togruta woman couldn't believe her montrals, he had said her name. Only it didn't sound like Darth Vader, the Sith Lord, had spoken, but it sounded like her former master had said her name along with the mechanical voice. Had she really heard him say her name? Was the stress of the situation causing her to hear things?

Ahsoka looked behind her, Darth Vader was kneeling a few feet away with his head hung low and not looking at her as the purple smoke of energy moved around them. For a moment she watched him in this state, his focus on the ground as he continued to breath heavily, even though the sound of his breath did not reach her. Darth Vader lifted his head to look at her and this time, he sounded more human than machine. He sounded like a memory.

"Ahsoka," he said seeing her with his own eye for the first time in years.

Ahsoka had broken the side of his mask in a last attempt to keep him away from her friends and now one of his sith yellow eyes was looking at her, seeing her. She could see part of his face, not the face of the fearsome Dark Vader, but her fallen Master from years ago.

It had been a long time since Vader had seen anything without the tint of red from his mask, it had been an even longer time since Anakin Skywalker had seen anything. Looking at Ahsoka now made something stir within him, his former self had reached the surface for a moment. Ahsoka had grown into a strong and beautiful young woman, her face had thinned from the rounded face she had as a teen and she had grown into her montrals. Vader had wondered what Anakin's former apprentice would look like and seeing her now, he couldn't help, but be in slight awe of how much she had grown up.

While fighting her, he was reminded of the times the two of them would spar with each other at the Jedi Temple. He would always win. Her skills in lightsaber combat had grown tremendously since then even though she continued to stubbornly hold them in that reverse grip. He could still see her as that headstrong teen, stubborn, reckless, but determined, loyal and a great warrior. These flashes of memory made his heart ache and stomach twist, having to fight someone from his past. He shoved the feelings down.

"Anakin," Ahsoka breathed out, staring at him.

She stood before him hesitantly, her lightsabers switched off as she watched him get back onto his feet, to stand before her. It was faint, like a candle in a dark room, but Ahsoka could feel her master was in there, that Anakin Skywalker was alive. The buzz of energy surrounding them increased, the smokey purple light at their feet began to move more rapidly around them. Ahsoka knew time was running out, she knew she needed to get out of here before the walls closed and she be trapped in the Temple. It was unstable and would collapse on itself any minute now, but she couldn't bring herself to leave him. She had left him once before, she wouldn't do it again.

"I won't leave you," Ahsoka declared strongly, her voice lowered as she went on, "Not this time."

Vader's exposed eyebrow raised at the statement, obviously not expecting her to say something like that. He thought over her words for a moment and for a second, he was touched by them. That even after everything, she wouldn't leave him behind. Suddenly Vader felt Anakin's protectiveness of her return to him, she needed to get out of here now or else she wouldn't survive. He needed to save her, he could do it, he could get her to leave before the Temple destroyed itself. It was Anakin who looked at Ahsoka, his little sister, his Snips, for the first time since that day all their years ago.

However Vader shoved Anakin's feelings for the Togruta away, reminding him of all she had done to him. Anger began to stir in his chest once again, she had left him before, betrayed him like everyone else had. He asked her to return, but she only walked away and abandoned him. Vader looked at her, if she didn't leave him either Vader would strike her down or the Temple's energy would kill her.

"Then you will die," Vader told her igniting his lightsaber. It was a warning and a fact.

Ahsoka wasn't surprised by his response, she hadn't expected anything from him. Although she wanted to believe that her master, her Skyguy, was alive, she knew he was gone and all that remained was his shadow. She didn't say anything, only a small quick nod to show that she knew what was coming. With his lightsaber ignited, Vader began to approach Ahsoka so that they could finish the battle that they started.

"Ahsoka," she heard Ezra call out to her.

Ahsoka used the force to push Ezra away from the closing doors, knowing that he would come and try to help her. The young boy fell down from the force and watched helplessly from his spot as the wall began to get closer and closer to the ground. Ahsoka looked at him, making sure that he wouldn't be able to get to her in time and that he would be able to escape with Kanan. Vader was on top of her then, she quickly ignited her lightsabers and brought them behind her where he had tried to strike her down.

"No," Ezra cried as he looked through the opening, "Noo!"

The wall closed, the last thing he sees is Ahsoka and the Sith Lord's lightsaber clashing against each other's.

Ahsoka continued to fight, but her skill level was still not as advanced as the Sith Lord's was. Despite this, she stood her ground against Vader, keeping up with his attacks and blocking his fatal strikes thus saving her life just a little longer. The ground beneath them began to shake, the center of the Temple exploded in blinding purple white light engulfing the former Jedi master and his padawan.

Darth Vader inhaled slowly, then exhaled with his eyes closed when he noticed something wasn't right. Even though he had grown used to the sound of his breathing and it no longer bothered him, he immediately noticed as he took another breath that no sound came. That was the first odd thing he noticed as he lay still on his back, his body stiff and sore. The Sith opened his eyes expecting to see half in red tint and clear view of the destroyed Temple. He was surprised, no he was shocked, when he saw that he was not in the Sith Temple any longer, but a forest of some kind.

Bright yellow light streamed through the canopy of leaves above him, only then did he hear the sound of birds and other animals making their noises around him. Not to mention the red tint he was used to was no longer there as well. Vader propped himself onto his elbows and wondered what happened and where he was.

Vader did not know any of these answers which caused his anger to spike for a moment, before he regained control of himself. It was then he decided he should call on the Dark Side to aid him in this and help him discover what had happened him. Closing his eyes, he began to call on the Force only to find that it wasn't there. The Force would always surround him, he could feel it move through him and obey his command as though it were another appendage on his body. Yet as he called to the Force, he was irritated to feel… nothing.

Never had he been cut off from the Force until now, this made is barely controlled anger burn like a fire in his chest. Why couldn't he access the Force? He growled in frustration and paid no mind that the growl sounded more animal than mechanical at the moment. Angrily, he stood from his spot on the grassy floor of the forest and looked around to see trees on all sides. On any normal day, Vader would have paid no attention to the breeze that blew past him, but he felt something brush the sides of his face.

His face.

He brought his hand to the side of his head and did not feel the familiar helmet that he wore, but flesh and string, no hair. That shouldn't be possible, all his hair had been burned off and would not grow back because of it. Vader ran his fingers through the hair, testing to see if it was actually there or if he was imagining it. Pulling on the hair at the back of his head, he felt a slight bit of pain. This didn't prove to him that it was real considering dreams and hallucinations could copy the feeling of such things.

Curious, Vader brought his hand onto his face to feel flesh, smooth flesh, not the charred and burned skin he had before it was healed. When he looked down at himself he saw he no longer wore the black clothing or armor and the life support system that allowed him to breath was not on him. In fact, the clothing he wore was an outfit he hadn't seen since the beginning of the Clone Wars.

He wore dark grey chest armor, armor on his shoulders the same color as his chest armor with the Jedi insignia on his left shoulder. He wore a dark grey knee-length vest surcoat which split in the front and back, but was closed on the sides along with a burgundy tunic with fitted sleeves. The brown leather boots were the same along with his mechanical hand and the belt he wore. The only real difference in the outfit was the fact that his lightsaber was not attached to the belt.

"How did this happen," Vader asked, only his voice was no longer mechanical.

For the first time in years, the sound of Anakin Skywalker's voice had left his lips and entered the air around him. Vader was not sure how he should feel about this, on the one hand he was enraged by the sound and once again reminded of all the pain he felt as this weak human. On the other hand he couldn't help, but to feel a sense of nostalgia enter his mind. Vader pushed the feeling away quickly and focused on the bitterness he felt. He couldn't access the Force, he was no longer wearing his suit, he had no idea where he was or how he had gotten here in the first place. The last thing he remembered before waking up was fighting Anakin's former padawan when the Temple had destroyed itself. The final thing he had seen was the blinding light surrounding himself and the Togruta.

This raised a question in Vader's mind, where was the Togruta female now? Had she come over to this mysterious place with him? Suddenly a grave thought crossed his mind, one he hoped would not be true. Had he passed on and joined the Force? No, he couldn't have or else he would would be able to feel every part of the Force instead of being disconnected from it. Vader decided he wouldn't wait around doing nothing, he needed to first figure out where he was and how to return back from where he came. Vader began to walk through the trees as he became consumed by his thoughts, the Togruta's last words to him echoing in his mind.

"I won't leave you, not this time."

Even as he replayed the memory, all he could focus on was the day she left him standing at the Jedi Temple with a heavy heart. After everything they had been through, all the battles, all the tragedy, all the happiness, she had still decided to leave him behind and for what? It wasn't like she really had anywhere else to go considering she had been brought to the Jedi order as a small child without a family. While many Jedi had parents, Ahsoka had been one of the few to arrive here at the Temple without any sort of family from where she had come from. Vader became angry again at her once again, she left him behind, she abandoned him. Vader was about to growl in frustration when a distant memory entered his mind involving a Dathomirian woman who had been a Sith apprentice.

She wasn't looking at him, her gaze was on the ground as she spoke to him.

"My master abandoned me," she said to him in a broken voice. One filled with pain, bitterness and sorrow. The next words she said held more venom, "and that's exactly what you did to her... You and your precious Jedi Order."

Vader stopped walking for a moment, the memory of Ventress's words hit what remained of his heart. It wasn't true, he would never abandon her and he did everything he could to save her and he had saved her. How he had he abandoned her? Had he really left her behind? No, he had been there for her when no one else was. He had done everything for her and how did she repay him, by stabbing him in the back. Vader clenched and unclenched his fists at his sides. He wouldn't think of the past now, he needed to focus and figure out where he was and how he was going to leave.

For what felt like hours, Vader had roamed the forest in search of anything or anyone, but so far he had only seen trees, little creatures and birds. Part of him was convinced he had seen the same tree with vines wrapped around it which only added to his growing frustration. Without the access to the Force, he was uncertain of what he could do in terms of helping him learn of where he was or how he planned to get help. Vader ran his flesh hand through his hair, the action filling him with a sense of nostalgia.

Despite the situation, Vader took some comfort in having his previous body back. Even if this was only a dream or hallucination, the feeling of his heart pumping strongly, the sweat he felt dripping down his face and being able to breathe on his own was… freeing. Senses he hadn't been able to experience in years, being able to see all the colors of the forest as they glowed with life. Being able to smell the soil at his feet, the aroma of flowers filling his lungs. Vader shook all of this from his mind though, refusing to give into this bliss that he was feeling. There was only space for anger, hatred, pain and fear in his mind and heart. Nothing more and nothing less.

Vader looked to his right, he squinted slightly and saw what he hoped would be a clearing of some kind. He walked on, the sound of his feet crushing the leaves and twigs adding to the sounds of the forest. At the end of the treeline, he stepped forward and immediately spotted a stream of water. The water was crystal clear, allowing him to see every rock and creature under the foot deep water. His throat and mouth were incredibly dry. After constantly walking for so long under the sun, he was tired and needed something to help keep up his strength. Later he would concern himself with finding food and look for shelter since he wouldn't be leaving anytime soon. Vader sighed at the thought of having to remain here, despite its beauty and the peace it provided, it only prolonged the inevitable.

The Sith walked a few short steps closer to the brook before kneeling before the brook, the rush and flow of water filling his ears. The mask he was accustomed to wearing had muffled his hearing, but now that his ears were in the open, everything had a louder and more acute sound. He looked at the waves and saw his reflection in the water. He looked exactly like how he had towards the beginning of the clone wars, the only difference were his Sith yellow eyes. He didn't focus on his reflection for long.

Instead, he cupped his hands together and lowered them into the water, watching as the clear liquid filled his hands. Once filled, he leaned down and brought his hands to his lips. Instantly, he felt the cooling effect of the water as his thirst was quenched. Vader released a content sigh. He cupped his hands again, waiting for the water to fill them before splashing his face with the cold water. He would have enjoyed the feeling if it weren't for the sudden rustle of leaves, causing him to go on alert. Even though he had not come in contact with any vicious animals, there was still the chance that there were some predators lurking.

He snapped his head to look in the direction of the rustling to see a figure approaching the edge of the treeline across the stream. His yellow eyes narrowed as he strained to see who was walking towards him. Perhaps it was a native of this forest, someone who could tell him where in the Force he was and how to leave. Vader stayed on his knees, waiting to see who exited the trees to come this way. The figure moved the branches out of their way before stepping out of the trees, revealing who they were.

Vader's eyes widened when he realized who was standing across the stream, it was someone he had never expected to see again, his padawan. He wouldn't have been surprised if he had seen the woman he battled on Malachor, but before him was not the woman he fought.

It was the child he trained.

"I'm Ahsoka, Master Yoda sent me."