This is my second update of the day, so please make sure you read chapter 62 before this one ❤️
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Ahsoka's POV
Cal and I have spent most of our time as Padawans, with each other. We laughed, we smiled, we cried, we fought, we stayed up late hours of the night and snuck into the kitchens for food, we've done countless things together that I could go on listing for hours.

But one of our favorite things to do when we needed to let loose, especially if we felt stressed; was to spar. Hours upon hours we would to do this and even learn each other's techniques and bad habits. As well as teach each other new ones.

So I would like to say that other than (y/n), I know the way he fights better than anyone.

Which is how I know that this person fighting me right now, is not my Cal.

He was beyond aggressive, I can feel the rage in him with every single one of his swings. I was hardly even fighting back, I was merely blocking and defending myself to keep him from harming me or that child.

His blue blade went straight for my face and I blocked it with the one lightsaber I had left, I lost the other one not too long ago. It rolled away past the chairs, hidden from my view. He aggressively knocked it out of my grasp and I never had time to go for it, and if I did, he would've taken my hand.

As I used all of my strength to keep his weapon away from my face, his fire filled eyes burned into mine, making my chest ache more than it already was, "Cal please stop," I begged; feeling my body grow tired from this exhausting fight.

But my pleas were ignored, and his expression never changed, almost like he couldn't hear me or he was pretending not to.

I raised my other hand and used the force to push him away from me so I could have a second to breathe. And a second was all I had before he was rushing towards me again.

Blue and green sparks flew between us as I parried each of his attacks while also directing him away from the child who had went back into hiding. But now that Cal knows he's alive, he will search until he finds him. That's the only thing that's keeping me going, I'm not fighting for just me, I'm fighting for the life of that innocent baby. If I didn't have him to protect, I would have given up by now, because this was killing me.

"Can't you see you're being manipulated!" I shouted over the hissing of our lightsabers crashing together, "Did you seriously believe murdering all of our friends is something I would be grateful for?" I yelled with tears in my eyes.

His eyes blazed over with fury as he used both of his hands to shove me backwards with the force. I flew and smacked against the hard wall; hitting my head and losing my second lightsaber in the process.

"I did it for you!" He stood above me with his weapon pointed at my neck, my chest was heaving up and down quickly as fear of death creeped up my spine, "All I wanted was for you to be safe Ahsoka. I got rid of those who could bring you harm and now I am powerful enough to keep you protected from anything."

I shook my head while glancing down at the blue light that was dangerously close to the skin on my neck, "The only person I need protection from right now, is you." I snapped my eyes back up to meet his.

"You just don't understand," His hand began to shake while his eyes watered for the first time during this entire interaction, "You are siding with the Jedi, calling them your friends after what they did. You're turning your back on me after all I've done for you." He moved the lightsaber away from my neck, but raised it like he was preparing to kill me.

"I'm not siding with anyone Cal, I just can't agree with what you've become," I spoke in a softer tone while I kept my gaze locked with his, silently pleading for him to put his weapon down, "But if you love me like you say you do, you won't hurt me or that child."

He glanced away from my eyes and down to the floor as his chest rose and fell with each heavy breath he took. After a few silent moments of me praying that he would put it down and hug me, he finally looked at me. A tear fell from his eye as his grip tightened on his lightsaber, then he quickly swung it down in my direction.

I closed my eyes, waiting for my imminent end. Not wanting the last thing I see to be his heartbreaking golden eyes as he murders me. But when death never came, I grew confused and slowly opened my eyes, only to be met with an empty room.

He left.

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Anakin's POV
I threw my lightsaber into the chest of a clone and jump forward as I pulled it out, then I twisted around to cut through another.

Obi-Wan and I arrived at the Temple only minutes ago, and we were already being attacked by a little over two dozen clones. We didn't want to hurt them, knowing what we now know. But we hardly had a choice, it was us or them.

Rex, Fives, and Cody were still on board with the bad batch. Tech believes he can alter their chips, to make it so they don't have to follow the order. I really hope he can, the last thing I want is to be hunted down by my own best friends, since I doubt I'll be able to kill them, especially Rex.

I told them to call me if they're successful, for now, they had to leave. They didn't give me any specifics as to why they had to go, but they promised to call back with updates soon.

When there were no more clones left. I backed away out of breath as I eyed the temple hall that was littered with bodies, "Anakin, do you recognize these men." Obi-Wan bent down as he moved one of the clones to the side so the battalion number could be seen.

"They're (y/n)'s." I went around and began checking all the numbers and the majority of them were all hers. Some were my own, some were Obi-Wans, and some were from others, but almost all of them were hers. I thought it was odd, but I didn't have an explanation for it, "I don't see the four though."

'The four' is what we began to call Max, Jimmy, Edge, and Dax, since there were always together, and (y/n)'s four favorites. They even went as far as to write the number four on their helmets, which is how we knew none of the men in this room are them.

"That isn't good, they can still be-" He paused when he stepped over a Jedi's body and looked down, "This one wasn't killed by a blaster, this was done by a lightsaber." He glanced up to me with a confused expression, "This doesn't make sense, what Jedi would do this?"

Song on top starts here. 🥺

"Know, I do." Master Yoda came out of nowhere; causing us both to jump in surprise as my hand flew to my weapon handle in defense. But when my brain comprehended who he was, I relaxed.

"You can't sneak up on us in a situation like this." I scolded him in annoyance, my heart was still trying to recover. But I was glad to see that he was alive, and him being here explains the lack of clones. There were still plenty for us to fend of, but it was a lot less than I expected.

His expression hardly changed with my scolding, he didn't seem amused by scaring me like he usually does. Instead his expression was somber and full of pain, "You know who did this?" Obi-Wan asked; prompting Yoda to nod.

He nudged his head for us to follow him, "Show you I must. Or believe me, you will not."

"Wait where's (y/n)?" I had initially left her here with him, but she wasn't anywhere in sight. I know she was alive, I spoke to her not that long ago, but I was confused as to why they wouldn't be together. Or why my Padawan wasn't here either, or Cal.. I can only hope that they're all together, keeping each other safe.

"Just come." He looked away from me and had us follow him to a room we had set up for security purposes. This is where all the security holograms throughout the temple can be played, it was here in case we had any intruders, or for incidents like we had with Dooku, "Warn you I must," He raised his claw to play something for us, "Only pain, you will find." And with that, he pressed the small button and a blue holographic image appeared.

I watched the room we usually trained the younglings in, and I was completely mortified as I saw a hooded figure slaughtering them with a lightsaber. The poor children screamed and begged for the person to spare them, but they didn't, it was a horrific sight that I wasn't prepared for.

"Who would do this-" I shot my hands up to my mouth and I instantly began to cry when the figure turned their head, and I saw her face.

"(y/n)?" Obi-Wan gasped in surprise, throwing his hand up to his mouth just as I did.

She looked right up at the camera with a glow in her eyes, before turning around and finishing the job.

My stomach felt like it had dropped and I was completely devastated by what I was seeing. He's right for bringing us here.. I wouldn't have believed him if I wasn't looking at it with my own eyes.

"No," I whispered; feeling both heartbroken and confused as Master Yoda turned the hologram off, "This can't be- I don't-" I had no words, I felt like my entire world was crumbling around me, that every happy ending I had in place for us was being ripped away. I didn't want to believe that what I just saw was real, that the Princess I met in that exact training room all those years ago was capable of any of this, "Why would she-"

Then I felt my stomach squeeze nauseatingly and I quickly turned my head to the side as I vomited onto the white floors. I felt Obi-Wan comforting me by rubbing my back as I both cried and threw up at the same time. This was too much for me, way too much. It felt like my heart had shattered and all the pieces were stabbing me on repeat.

"All that is not." Master Yoda played another one, and I slowly turned my head and blinked the water away from my eyes to get a clear view.

It wasn't just (y/n) this time, it was Cal too, and they were walking along the halls of the temple with another hooded figure, "Lady Lilith, Lord Sin; you have both done well, you will be rewarded for your loyalty. I assure you that your loved ones will remain unharmed."

I know that voice, I would know that disgusting fucking voice anywhere, "Palpatine," I stood up and used my sleeves to wipe my mouth, "I knew he had something to do with this, he's using them." I growled as I felt my own body shake with anger. I was being slammed with too many emotions at once, and it was beginning to overwhelm me. And the fact that I didn't know where Ahsoka was either only added to my anxiety.

"Manipulated, they have been. Consumed by the dark side, they have become." Yoda shut off the hologram once more with a defeated look in his eyes, "Gone they are," His eyes watered; and he looked like he was seconds away from having a  break down, "Failed her I have."

I shook my head while my own heartbroken tears streamed down my cheeks, "No, we can't give up. I-I just need to talk to her, I can get through to her Master I know I can."

Obi-Wan placed his hand on my shoulder to gain my attention, "Anakin, look at what has happened, do you really believe you can bring her back from this?" I know he was referring to the massacre, the hundreds of Jedi that have died by her hand.

I wiped my tears from under my eyes as I nodded. My mind was telling me to be reasonable and accept that she was gone. But my heart was telling me the opposite, it was telling me not to give up on her, that the good inside of her is still there, "I have to at least try Obi-Wan, I can't lose my Princess, not to him."

"Master Skywalker." I heard a hoarse, broken voice come from behind me. I turned around quickly when I recognized it and I breathed out a sigh of relief to see Ahsoka alive. She was standing in the doorway with a child in her arms, "I tried," She whispered as tears fell from her eyes, she looked completely depleted of any energy, "But he wouldn't listen to me." And then she broke.

She dropped to her knees with the child still in her arms and she began to sob, and it sounded heartbreaking enough to tug on my own heart. I instinctively ran to her and dropped down in front of her, "What happened snips?" I placed my hand on her cheek and lifted her eyes up to look at me.

She glanced down at the child who was sleeping in her grasp, "Cal was going to kill Grogu, and I couldn't let him. We fought and he almost killed me," She sniffled as she passed the baby to Obi-Wan who had come forward to take him from her, "I tried so hard Master, so hard to get him to come back to me. But he's gone, he left." She broke down again and I immediately enveloped her into a tight embrace, "They did this, him and (y/n) did it all." She told me as she cried into my shoulder.

"I know," My own eyes watered once more. I tried so hard to be strong for her, but it was too painful to suppress, "We'll get them back. I just have to find (y/n), and if I can talk her down, she'll be able to reach Cal." I informed her of the plan thats been formulating in my mind.

I just hope to the gods that she will listen to me when I tell her the truth. That Palpatine has been lying and manipulating her from the very beginning.

Ahsoka backed away from me and wiped her tears with the back of her hand, "Cal said she's on Mustafar, that the Chancellor sent her there on a request."

I nodded as I stood up, "I'll leave immediately."

"Go with you I will." Yoda began to walk towards me with a cane.

"No." Obi-Wan stopped him abruptly; prompting us all to look at him in surprise, "None of us here are strong enough to face Palpatine, only you are. You have to go to the Senate building. His death with ensure their safety if Anakin fails to reach her." I wanted to argue with him about that last sentence, but I knew there would be no use. I needed to accept that there is a possibility that she won't listen to me, especially since not even Ahsoka was able to reach Cal.

The only advantage I have in the situation that they didn't, is time, her and I have loved each other for fourteen years, that has to count for something. I suddenly felt a little bit more hope return to me.

Yoda looked like he was desperate to come with me, but he knew Obi-Wan was right, "Go to the Senate building, I will." He spoke reluctantly with a sigh.

"And what will you two do?" I looked between Ahsoka and Obi-Wan. She immediately looked to him for answers, her eyes were bloodshot like she'd been crying for hours; which she probably has been.

He looked down at the child, "Were going to send out a transmission to warn all the remaining Jedi to stay away from here, and then we'll find somewhere safe for this little guy," He glanced back up to me with a sad gaze, "After that, we'll go to Mandalore, which is where I would like you to meet us."

I nodded in understanding as I held my hand out to him, "I'll see you there once I get my fiancé back." I didn't have to ask where in Mandalore, I already knew where. Obi-Wan has tried to make it seem like him and Satine were purely physical, but I know their relationship is deeper than that, I found their notes to each other a few months ago. So it's no surprise to me that she is where he would run to in a dire situation like this.

He accepted my handshake and squeezed it tighter than normal; worry was clear on his features, "I better, don't leave me in a galaxy without my brother."

I wanted to hug him, and I would have if he wasn't holding the child right now. So I gave him a reassuring smile instead, "I wouldn't dream of it."

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So the next one is where it goes down and I'm not mentally prepared to write it ❤️
But just remember when you read it, there IS
a sequel and it will have a happy ending.
So don't hate me or lose faith 💕
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