Star Wars Rebels - Lost

Chapter Two: A New Mission

As Sabine approached Ahsoka, the togruta silently gestured for them to enter her ship which was currently hovering just outside the cave. Frowning, Sabine realised that said ship was in fact the Gauntlet, the Mandalorian vessel that Ezra had stolen from Maul, all those years ago. She had no idea how Ahsoka had gotten her hands on the ship, but then again she had no idea how she survived either, so curiosity at this point was nothing new to her. She stepped forwards, glancing at Ahsoka and staring into her eyes for a moment, as if to test that she wasn't just another hallucination, before turning and entering the ship. Ahsoka, herself, took one last look at the painting in the distance, before nodding her head slowly and following Sabine into the Gauntlet. The door closed behind her, and she turned to find Sabine sat at a dejarik table. The togruta took a deep breath, preparing herself for a conversation that she had imagined a thousand times. Sabine would be the first person, other than Ezra of course, who would know that she had survived the encounter on Malachor. But how does one explain such a story?
"So" she began, visibly uncomfortable "I imagine you're feeling a little shocked, and probably annoyed that I did not come sooner".
"I'm shocked, don't get me wrong, but I'm not angry. I want to know how you survived, I'm sure you had your reasons for staying hidden" Sabine answered in a reasonable tone, causing a look of mirth to appear on Ahsoka's face.
"My, how you've grown. I remember the days where you would shout at anybody for anything, and I certainly deserve a great deal of anger for letting you think I was...gone for all that time" the togruta stated, she lowered her head in shame. She hadn't wanted to cause anybody any pain, but what was she supposed to have done?
"What happened on Malachor? I remember Ezra coming back heartbroken, he was so sure that you'd died" Sabine asked with curiosity. Having never been there first-hand, all she knew was what Ezra had told her, and he had been understandably cagey on the subject.
"I faced..." she paused, as if afraid to mention his name "Vader...and I pushed Ezra away, hoping to shield him from the blast. And I did, I saved him, it was just me and Vader, the temple was about to erupt when suddenly I felt a...a hand grab my shoulder and pull me away. In a flash, everything went black. I thought I was dead". Sabine listened with interest, getting the distinct impression from Ahsoka's pauses that this was the first time she had ever told this story to anybody.
"I awoke in a dark place, with thousands of bridges of white light. It was like a void, but the force was so strong there. Ezra was there as well, but he was so much older, with a new haircut and lightsaber" Ahsoka explained.
"That was the world between worlds right? Ezra described it to me briefly when he escaped, how come you never came back with him?" the Mandalorian asked.
"We were...separated, everything happened so fast, I leapt through a different door to Ezra, and somehow I returned to my own time, minutes after the explosion at Malachor" Ahsoka stated, a distant look on her face. Sabine suddenly frowned, and could not help but clench her fists a little on the dejarik table.
"Wait, you came back just after you'd died? Why didn't you come back?! Why didn't you help us?!" she said with some anger. Thus far, she had assumed that Ahsoka had returned at the same time as Ezra, and that she was not able to return to Lothal in time to help. But if that wasn't the case, then she could have come back, she could have prevented Kanan's death, and that of Ezra!
"I couldn't, if I had then everything that had happened up until the point when Ezra found me could have changed. I know you're thinking I could have prevented deaths, but I couldn't alter history, the consequences would be too dire, I promise you. As for not returning once Lothal was won, there I have no excuse. After my failure with Vader...with, with Anakin, I couldn't face coming back. I went into exile, on a planet called Ahch-To, where I knew that the Empire would never find me" Ahsoka explained quietly.

Sabine lowered her head and nodded silently, she couldn't imagine Ahsoka's pain regarding Anakin. She had been told the full story by the togruta shortly before Malachor, to have her master become such a feared titan of evil, it must have been tough to process. The Mandalorian then raised her head with a curious expression.
"Then why have you returned now?" she asked, causing Ahsoka to smile.
"For the same reason that you're here, looking at an old painting, I believe. You've heard him haven't you? You've been getting the same dreams as I have" Ahsoka asked, to which Sabine replied with a nod.
"But why? I understand why you would get these...these visions, you're force sensitive. But I'm not, why can I hear him? Wherever he is" Sabine questioned.
"Oh please, it doesn't take force sensitivity to see that the two of you were close. I imagine you only became closer after...Malachor, even if you didn't define what you had, each of you cared for the other. Trust me when I say that love, whether its family or...something else, is a stronger bond than anything the force can conjure" the togruta explained, causing Sabine to blush a little.