A sensation of horrified understanding pours through my bond with Anakin. He knows, of course. He knows he was the Sith apprentice from the future I told him about – who helped destroy the Jedi and keep the Sith Empire standing for so long. I wish I'd told him what happened now. Things never would have gone this far. If he knew he was going to Fall in the future, it never would have happened now. And how he knows that he was Vader, having found out in the worst way possible. Why did I ever tell them the name of the future Sith apprentice? It shouldn't have mattered anyway.
I promised Vader I'd change the future. That I'd keep him from turning to the Dark Side, but I failed. And whatever way I figure it, it's my fault. If I hadn't suggested the not-so-brilliant idea of killing Sidious on the Invisible Hand, we'd never be in this mess. But now, it's too late. I'll have to deal with the consequences.
"Rise, my apprentice," Sidious commands. Anakin stands up, refusing to look our direction. His gaze is fixed on the floor.
"And now," the Sith Master continues gleefully, "Every single Jedi is now an enemy of the Republic. They are traitors and must all be eliminated."
Anakin stares at him for a moment. "I don't think so," he retorts, eyes narrowing.
"You would dare disobey your master?" asks Sidious with altogether too much calm. Almost like this was what he was hoping for. He's clearly planning something, and though I don't know what, I don't like the sound of it at all.
"I won't," Anakin repeats confidently, "The Jedi aren't innocent, but that doesn't mean they all deserve to die."
"Very well," Sidious responds. I can't deny the prickle of fear that runs down my spine at his expression. He looks past Anakin to the motionless figure of Maul in the doorway. "Kill him," he commands. For a moment, I'm confused, but then I realize this all was something clearly planned out ahead of time.
Maul ignites his lightsaber and stalks forwards, straight towards Obi-Wan. My blood runs cold. Of course. Sidious must have promised Maul this to get him to capture me. It works both ways, because if Obi-Wan's dead, there will be one less person holding Anakin back from the Dark Side. Sidious can use both of us as leverage now, and there's nothing we can do about it.
Anakin is suddenly standing in front of Maul, blocking the blow not a moment too soon. He'd moved so fast I barely even registered it. Their lightsabers jerk apart, as they glare at each other for a moment before the blades start clashing. Anakin's blue blade spins between the two ends of Maul's lightsaber as he attacks him furiously.
The slightest movement suddenly catches my attention. Dooku's lightsaber moves across the floor as if completely on its own, slowly levitating itself into the air before suddenly igniting and cutting though Obi-Wan's restraints. Artoo reacts simultaneously, opening his compartment. Obi-Wan pulls his lightsaber out of it, jumping in front of Anakin to block the blast of lightning Sidious shoots at him.
I don't even need to ask who just did that. Anakin was otherwise occupied. Maul is too busy fighting, and there's no reason in the world he would have done that unless he was trying to cut off Obi-Wan's head and missed so spectacularly it's not even funny. Sidious has no reason to do so unless he's completely gone mad. So, there's only one other option. It must have been Dooku's doing. Clearly, his master's betrayal is giving him second thoughts, after all.
"You have interfered with my plans far too long, Kenobi," snarls Sidious furiously, withdrawing his lightsaber. The red blade hisses to life as he jumps at Obi-Wan. Moments later, he's furiously attacking him, the Jedi Master slowly retreating from the intensity of the blows.
If only I could actually be helping in the fight, instead of being stuck here chained up. With this whole mess being my fault in the first place, the least I can do is help win this fight. Anakin may be able to win against Maul, but I'm not sure how long Obi-Wan will be able to hold off Sidious. For someone who is so obsessed with using lightning, his lightsaber combat skills are really, really good. I can only hope Obi-Wan, with his experience in Soresu, can hold out until Anakin comes to join him.
If only Dooku could have freed me too. But now even if he wanted to, he couldn't anyway, with the two battling pairs moving too quickly around the room to make such a thing possible. A Force shove from Sidious sends Obi-Wan flying across the room. He quickly stands back up again, right in time to block the onslaught of lightning from Sidious.
I turn my gaze away from Sidious and Obi-Wan, back to Anakin and Maul. Anakin easily keeps up with Maul's spinning lightsaber, and he's already been forced onto the defensive. Well, Maul got his wish for a fight with Anakin after all. And I'm pretty sure he isn't enjoying it. Someone should tell him to be more careful what he wishes for.
The fight travels towards me as the duel continues. Anakin swings his blade at Maul again, who blocks the blow, trapping their blades in a saberlock. Anakin suddenly shoves the blade hard to the side, cutting me free. Maul snarls in a rage and spins his lightsaber in a circle as he attacks Anakin again. I land on my knees on the floor, pausing for a moment to collect myself before jumping to my feet again. Finally, I'm free.
I grab my lightsabers from Artoo, igniting them mid-flight. I'm about to dash across the room to help out Obi-Wan – who's still in the middle of a lightning battle with Sidious – but Maul blocks my path with one end of his lightsaber. Fine, then we'll defeat him first if that what he really wants. It won't be hard.
I pull back and attack him in a blur of green. Anakin attacks from the other side. Maul spins his lightsaber between ours, struggling to keep us at bay.
Our blades get stuck in a saberlock again, me on one side of Maul's lightsaber and Anakin on the other. Over his shoulder, I can see the intensity of Sidious' lightning increasing, until it suddenly blasts Obi-Wan's lightsaber out of his hands and the lighting consumes him.
No. In a last moment desperate effort, I force all my effort into keeping the saberlock with Maul's blade with one hand. I pull back my lightsaber, trying to force Maul's blade upwards with my shoto. Anakin – having fought with me for so many years – figures out what I'm planning. He shoves the other side of the blade downwards, leaving part of Maul exposed. I stab him with my other lightsaber. His yellow eyes widen in horror as he stumbles backwards and collapses to the floor.
"I did warn you," I say, staring down at the dying Sith Lord. He glares up at me, rage burning in his eyes, but doesn't say anything. He lays there, and I feel the life-force slowly fading from him. He's probably going to die, but at the very least, he won't be able to interfere with us killing Sidious anymore.
Anakin whirls around, lunging at Sidious. He stops his lightning assault, activating his red blade and attacking back. I jump across the room, slashing my lightsabers towards him. Within moments, we're engaged in a blinding dance of red, blue, and green. Sidious stabs towards me, but I parry the blow, and he spins to block one from Anakin. Behind us, Obi-Wan slowly stands up, and reignites his lightsaber.
He springs back into the fight, as the battle continues. Sidious is slowly being pushed onto the defensive now that the three of us are attacking him. Even so, however, he doesn't seem to be having that hard of a time. He was trained impossibly well, wasn't he? Sidious throws Anakin across the room into a wall, then lunges towards me. I duck out of the way, but the blade hits my arm. I jerk backwards for a moment at the sharp, burning pain that tears through it, but I can't stop fighting. Obi-Wan parries the next blow, attacking the Sith again.
"There is only the Force," I mutter, drawing deeper on the Force as a whole. Both Light and Dark swirls around me, strengthening me and dampening the pain. I lunge forwards again with renewed strength.
Sidious notices it instantly and throws out a hand towards me. I'm thrown across the room into the wall. I fall to the floor, head spinning and pain stabbing through my lekku where they struck the wall so hard. Anakin jumps at Sidious simultaneously, attacking him again. I shake my head, trying to force away the dizziness as I stand up again. I leap across the room, lightsabers raised for a killing blow, but Sidious easily jumps aside and the blades stab into the floor. I pull them out and the three of us turn to face him again.
"I can feel your anger, your hatred," the Sith chuckles when Anakin attacks him again. "They make you stronger."
"Yes, I taught him plenty about the Force in the past month, thanks to you. Didn't have much else to do when we're not on the front," I retort, spinning my lightsaber and jumping forwards. The fight continues to rage, with Sidious on the defensive, but neither side is really gaining any ground.
A bolt of lightning nearly catches me off guard, but I manage to block it just in time, crossing my lightsabers in front of me.
In Sidious' moment of distraction, Obi-Wan's lightsaber slashes across his arm. He stumbles back with a snarl of rage and pain, shooting lighting at Obi-Wan instead. Anakin takes the opportunity, lunging at Sidious from behind. The Sith Lord spins towards him but a split second too late. The blue blade stabs him in the back, straight through his chest.
Sidious falls to the floor, glaring hatefully at us. He throws his hand out, sending a blindingly strong lightning bolt towards Anakin. It's much the same strength as what he used on the Death Star, and Anakin is flung across the room into the wall before landing on the floor. A strangled cry escapes him as electricity runs over his body.
No. I'm not about to stand here and watch as my brother gets electrocuted to death again. I can't – can't go through that again. I slash my lightsaber down, chopping off Sidious' hand. Half a second later, I feel life fade from the body. An explosion ripples out through the Force. It ripples outwards, reaching across the galaxy. A disturbance, a change, one for the better. The pure strength of it is nearly enough to bring me to the floor.
"It's over," I let out a sigh of relief, hardly able to believe it. We did it. Sidious is gone, no empire, the Jedi are still around. I kept my promise. Well, half of it. Sidious is dead, and we're all still here. I look over at Maul. He's also dead. I feel a tinge of sorrow over his death, but it was his choice, not mine. I can't always save everyone. The only Sith left is Dooku, who already proved that he's changed his mind about this, or at least about doing anything to further Sidious' plans. And he's currently unconscious.
Anakin is half-way to pushing himself up, only to collapse again with a gasp, hands flying to his head. I can feel his pain rushing through our bond, with a crushing depression and defeat I've never felt from him before. I glance at Obi-Wan. He can help, more than I can. I don't know what's wrong.
Obi-Wan hurries to him, crouching beside him and touches his shoulder. "Anakin?" he asks quietly.
"I'm sorry," he rasps, voice cracking. I sprint across the room, kneeling beside them. He's shaking, still struggling to breathe. I wrap an arm around him tightly, helping him sit up. Obi-Wan settles down on the floor next to him and Anakin leans against him. My heart clenches painfully when I realize he's crying. I've seen him cry before, but it always hurts. "I'm sorry," he whispers desperately.
"For what?" I ask. It's a painful reminder again of how he always apologizes for things he couldn't have helped to begin with, and for things he definitely shouldn't have to apologize for. "It's not your fault Sidious is a monster."
"I should've... seen. I spent so much time with him, and I didn't know..." Anakin shudders again and twist his position, pressing his face into Obi-Wan's shoulder and wrapping an arm around him. I scoot forwards and Anakin reaches out with his other arm, pulling me tightly against him in something that seems both desperate and protective.
"You were a child, Anakin," Obi-Wan reminds, reaching up to run a gentle hand through Anakin's hair. "It was me who gave you to him if you remember. You were only thirteen. He groomed you." I can hear the quite horror and self-recrimination in his voice, a thousand words of apology which he'll say later, in private.
"I had a bond with him." His voice is bitter. "I didn't even know it. I failed you. Both of you."
"No, you didn't," objects Obi-Wan, "You defeated Maul, Dooku, and Sidious."
"But I let them capture you in the first place."
"Excuse me?!" I exclaim, "There was nothing you could have done to prevent any of it, Anakin. Nothing. And we're here now." We're all alive, and we're together. What matters more than that?
"I hurt you, Ahsoka."
"What?" I squeak, pulling back. "You can't take responsibility for Vader's actions. It's not even a life you've lived!"
"I still Fell, even now."
"But you didn't hurt anyone," Obi-Wan reminds.
"You were only going along with Sidious until there was a better option," I insist. "There wasn't anything else you could have done without us dying."
"Regardless, what's done is done, and it's in the past now. Now, we need to just work on making things better in the future. It'll be alright, Anakin." It's a promise, and for once it's something I can believe.
"I'm sorry," he whispers again.
"Stop apologizing," I order, minorly irritated. How hard can it be to know when something isn't his fault? "You didn't do anything wrong."
His head tilts a little in what I take to be pure disbelief, but he doesn't object, only holding me closer when I tighten my grip on him. It's gratitude. Even if he doesn't believe me, he's always grateful for my presence. I know he still has a long way to go before he'll be able to accept and let go of everything that happened here – and that in an alternative universe he became a far worse version of Vader – but this, at least, is a start. But all I know is that whatever happens, I'm going to be by his side, like I promised him shortly after Obi-Wan faked his death. I'll never leave him. Never.
"We need to get back to Coruscant to tell the Council what happened," declares Obi-Wan, finally breaking the temporarily peacefulness.
"Yes," Anakin agrees, but still makes no move to stand, "It's time to go home."