When She Was Gone

Chapter One: Before

A/N
This chapter will be short. It takes place somewhere just before Order 66.
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Anakin felt a bolt brush past his face, then heard it make contact with the tree behind him. That was too close. He whipped his 'saber faster, deflecting those damned clanker's blasts as they went whizzing past.

Rex managed to get within earshot of him, shooting his twin pistols as fast as he could. "General!" He yelled above the din of droids and clones. "Commander Tano's bombers are coming in now!"

"What" —He deflected a blast— "Took her so"—Another— "Long?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, sir!"

Anakin chuckled. To his immense relief, he heard the bombers coming in above him. Rex started yelling at the troops to fall back before the bombs dropped. Anakin, however, ran further into the fray while the droids were distracted. He chopped up a few of them, but he wasn't there to demolish the opposing side. That was Ahsoka's job.

He ran as fast as he could, using the Force to help him get to the ridge quicker. A shuttle paused above him, and a cloaked figure dropped down. She quickly removed her robe to reveal a young Togruta girl.

"How's it going, Master?" Ahsoka asked as she whipped out her lightsabers.

"Better now that I know the bombers got through," Anakin called over the noise. Ahsoka cracked a smile.

"They'll be dropping the payload any second now," she yelled. Sure enough, her ships began to dive-bomb the battlefield in front of them, quickly eliminating what Anakin hoped was the last wave of droids. Ahsoka darted forward and took out the last few stragglers the bombs hadn't gotten to. She hooked her 'sabers back onto her belt, and the two grinned at each other. Then a loud shot made them both jump.

A damaged but still functioning tank was shooting at a bomber that was circling the area.  It had apparently made the hit it wanted to, because the ship began spiraling down.

This all happened in a split second, and the Master saw it, but the Padawan did not. The Padawan was saved by her Master, but no one was there to save the Master.

Ahsoka landed far away enough that she would not be harmed, but not far away enough to not witness what happened.

She watched in horror as the bomber crashed and exploded less than ten feet away from Anakin.

She watched him go flying.

She screamed.

He hit the ground with a sickening thud that Ahsoka could feel in her own body, just as she could feel his Force signature fading.

And it was fading fast.

She rushed to him and cradled him in her lap, tears streaming down her face. She wanted to tell him that he'd be fine, but she knew that was a lie. Anakin lifted his eyes ever so slightly to look into hers, and she watched a single tear snail down his cheek. His mouth formed a word he couldn't say loud enough for her to hear, but she knew that by the way his lips moved it was her name.

Then his body went slack.

Ahsoka felt her and Anakin's Force bond snap, like a brittle twig one had trod on. Then it dissolved, only a trace of it remaining in her. She held Anakin tighter and shook with grief. Her emotions spilled over; rage, sadness, horror. She felt the Force gather around her as the Chosen One's Force signature faded away, and she used it.

She imagined pulling it into a little ball. A little ball that could save her Master. She imagined pushing that little ball through his chest to his still heart, imagined it making that loving heart beat again.

Ahsoka opened her raw eyes to see Anakin still there, still unmoving. She dropped her head. It hadn't worked.

Then she felt his signature. Faint, but it was there. A spark of hope ignited. Before she could check for a pulse, a voice rang out in her head.

Good, it said venomously. Good. You have saved your master.

Ahsoka stood and backed away from Anakin, hoping to keep whatever this was far from him.

Who are you?

I am Kaivo. But you will come to know me as Master.

I have a master.

You will be my new apprentice, the voice carried on, seemingly not noticing her protest. You will be mine.

Something shoved Ahsoka backwards, and before she could grab anything, she was tumbling down the cliff behind her. Her head hit the bottom, hard, and the world went black.