I'll Fix You

Only Seventeen

After spending time with his children, Anakin headed over to the room that he and Ahsoka shared. She was meditating on the floor when he came in. She stood up and hugged him.

"Hello, Master," she said.

"You've always had more patience than me, Ahsoka," Anakin said, referring to her precious state.

"It's the Obi-Wan in me," Ahsoka replied with a smirk as she broke the hug.

Anakin mirrored her smirk. "You always were a perfect mix of us both," he told her. "You have a lot of Padmè in you as well. You're like her in many ways you probably don't even know. She was always so willing to help people in need and did so very selflessly... You're the same way." Anakin sighed. "I wish she was still here."

Ahsoka nodded. "I went to her funeral." Tears began to form in her eyes as she relived the moment. "I didn't know what happened. You- you were gone, Obi-Wan was presumably dead, and Padmè was actually dead. I was so lost," she whispered shakily.

Anakin closed his eyes shut, guilt was gripping at his heart for Ahsoka. She had been only seventeen when it had all happened. She didn't deserve any of what had happened to her.

"I'm so sorry," he barely managed to say, his words soft and sad. "I- It's my fault," Anakin said. "It's all my fault."

Ahsoka was about to protest, but Anakin stopped her.

"Don't say it wasn't my fault. It's all my fault, Ahsoka," his voice was strained and his body was trembling. "I made you feel that way. I promised I would always try to make you happy, and I ended up being the one who hurt you the most. My actions hurt you more than anything else could have. If I would have never trusted Palpatine, none of this would have happened. Sure, he manipulated me. Whatever. I still had a choice, and I chose wrong. I- I know that." He sighed. "I know I'm a monster, a ruthless murderer. I've destroyed entire civilizations, but I also destroyed your life and the lives of so many others close to me."

Ahsoka couldn't help but start crying. She didn't know what to do or think. She knew Anakin had ruined her life, but for the life of her she couldn't believe that was true. Anakin had made her life great in so many ways. He had been the best master a young Jedi could've ever asked for or wanted.

If Anakin hadn't been heartbroken before, seeing Ahsoka; the girl he had practically raised, cry before his eyes certainly made his heart break in two. Especially when he knew that he was the reason why.

Anakin wanted to console her, but how could he? It seemed anything he did caused more bad than good. He had failed Ahsoka just like he had failed everyone else.

"I- I want to say that I'm so sorry, but that would not even begin-"

Ahsoka sighed as she wiped her tears away. "Master, don't. Sure you did some bad things, and maybe you did leave us all for the Dark Side." She paused. "But you're back now, and that alone can make everything alright, at least for me."

"And all of those years I had heard the horrific stories of what you had done, I tried so hard hate you. I really did, but I couldn't. I couldn't forget how kind of a Master you had been, and how you had made the Clone Wars comfortable for a small Padawan." Ahsoka gave him a true smile that expressed her gratitude.

"I built up your life just to ruin it, Ahsoka," Anakin said sadly, his voice cracking. "I made you feel pain you should've never felt. I made you watch everything you had ever truly known crumble around you. I became everything I trained you to hate, and yet you never hated me? I don't understand, Ahsoka."

Ahsoka sighed. "I told you. No matter what you did from that point on, it never changed anything you had done previously for me. While you were killing thousands, I was standing in the dark alone, yet accompanied by the memory of who you once were, and also the slim chance that you would would someday come back to me."

More tears came down Anakin's blue eyes as he realized how much problem his poor Padawan had to go through. His tears ran from his eyes, as if trying to escape their creator that they so heavily despised.

"Oh, Ahsoka," he muttered as he wrapped his arms around her. "I'm so sorry."

Ahsoka smiled through her pain. "I know that you are, Anakin. I forgive you."