A/N: lol don't worry guys, this isn't the chapter I'm writing for the 10k celebration. This is just the last part of my angst series haha. Anyways, enjoy!

***

"Ahsoka, we have to go!" A terrified Anakin shouted hoarsely as he burst into the room, on the verge of panicking. "We aren't safe here, nobody is!"

"I know. I'll go get Luke and Leia, you pack all your stuff, I'll pack mine, as well as the twins'. Meet me back in the living room in 15 minutes; we're guaranteed to be primary targets."

Anakin took a moment to admire the leadership skills Ahsoka had eventually developed. She would've become a powerful Jedi one day, he thought bitterly, if the Council hadn't mistreated her the way they did.

But there was no time for reminiscing the injustices of the past.

"Yes sir!" He answered, mock saluting her.

Ahsoka caught onto his game. "Now go prepare for the mission, Knight Skywalker," she said, rolling her eyes. Yet, even she couldn't help but let a small smile creep onto her face as she did so.

***

"Anakin! You're late! It's been 15 minutes and half a second!" The former Padawan chided as the pronounced guilty walked towards her sheepishly.

"Come on Snips, how do you even know that? And I'm barely even late!"

"You've got no excuse, Skyguy," Ahsoka retorted, smirking. "I packed three people's things and changed the twin's clothes in under fifteen minutes. You used more time than I did for packing your own stuff."

"It was half a second longer!"

"Yeah, But you're still late."

"You're impossible."

She merely smirked in response. "Come on Lukey," she grunted, hoisting the baby into his father's arms, "you go with your daddy. Leia and I are going to have some bonding time. What do you say, Lei?"

The infant babbled excitedly. "I'll take that as a yes," Ahsoka chuckled. "Now come on, we've got a Dark Lord to avoid."

***

Seven years later, in the Skywalker household...

"... that's great, Luke!" Anakin praised, watching his son lift a toy block into the air telepathically. "Your skills in the Force are sure to rival mine at some point."

"Hey!" Leia protested, scowling at her father, "Mine will too!"

"Sure, if you actually bothered to practice and stop complaining about training. Your Auntie Sokka and I have gone through much more training than you have."

Luke barely tried to stifle his laughter, pointing a playful finger at his sister's red face.

"Shut up Luke!" The latter whined, swatting her brother's hand.

"Now, now, princess," A new voice joined into their conversation, sounding thoroughly amused at the twins' banter. "Your father is right. If you want to even attempt to best his skills, you have to train."

Leia looked just about ready to explode as she stomped rather dramatically out of the living room.

Ahsoka chuckled. "Go get ready for bed, Princess!"

A faint, "stop calling me that! I hate it when you call me that!" echoed faintly down the stairs just as the door slammed shut.

She smirked faintly, whirling on Luke. "You too, Prince, go to bed. It's getting late."

"But why don't you need to?"

"We're adults," Anakin interjected. "So, we-"

"I also have something to discuss with your father, Luke," Ahsoka cut him off.

The boy rolled his eyes, but not before wrapping his auntie and father in a hug before going to find Leia.

"Obi-Wan always said our banter was both funny and extremely irritating," the former Padawan reminisced. "Now I know why. Come to think of it, they sound scarily like us."

"They do," Anakin conceded, wrapping an affectionate arm around Ahsoka. "Why'd you cut me off earlier? I was going to teach Luke a lesson!"

The latter scoffed. "Using the generic, 'we're adults, so we don't have to follow rules' won't do the trick."

"How would you know?"

"I was once a kid myself, you know." After a moment, she added, "a kid who just so happened to find herself under the tutelage of Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi -- two of the most respected and infuriating, generic Jedi of all time."

Anakin punched her shoulder playfully. "Shut up."

She grinned. "Never."

The two sank into a comfortable silence. "What was the thing you had to talk to me about?" Skywalker asked eventually.

Ahsoka's eyes darkened, tensing visibly as she turned around to face him, worry clearly etched on her face. "Anakin... I've been doing some research and to my horror, the Emperor published a list of people whose names have a bounty over their heads."

She looked down, unable to look him in the eye.

"...And?" He urged quietly, "who are they?"

"It doesn't matter who the rest are, Anakin," the Togruta said shakily. "Your- your name is the first one on that list, with a bounty of four hundred thousand credits."

The cheerful environment drained immediately, and Anakin's face lost all its natural color. "What?" He uttered hoarsely, not daring to believe his ears. "Four hundred thousand credits?"

"Yes... Anakin, don't lose hope. Never," Ahsoka intoned. "You need to let the sun come streaming in, cuz you'll reach up, and you'll rise again. If you only look around, you will be found." (A/N: if somebody gets this reference, I'll be thrilled.)

"Thank you."

"Of course. We'll work through this together."

***

The next day...

Anakin and Ahsoka had both woken up in a considerably better mood, knowing they could always rely on the other to navigate through trouble. Unbeknownst to any of them, the Force had a nasty surprise in store for them.

"...Luke! Finish your lunch before going outside!"

"Auntie Sokka," the little one protested, eyes full of worry, "There's a shadow coming. It's bad."

Lunch now completely forgotten, the young woman turned her piercing eyes to him. "Shadow?" Ahsoka repeated. "What shadow, Luke? Can you desc-"

She didn't need to ask. Just as Leia ran into the room, wearing the same expression as her twin, a chilling shudder ran down her spine. A shadow was indeed coming, and it was headed right for them.

"Anakin!" Ahsoka shouted. "Can you feel that Dark Side presence quickly approaching us?"

He shuddered, knowing far too well who this was. A shadow that was emerged so deeply in the Dark Side could only mean one person was here, and it was not to discuss politics.

"I can. That presence is familiar. Too familiar. He ruined everything."

The Togruta immediately knew who he was referring to. "Sidious," she spat, venom lacing her tone. "He's found us."

"Take the twins and run," Anakin ordered. "Get to someplace safe."

"No! What about you?" Ahsoka protested. She was not going to lose the last person alive that she loved to the Darkness.

"I'll find you!"

"I can't lose you!" She pleaded, eyes misty with a sheen of unshed tears.

His eyes softened momentarily, calculating rapidly as he added Ahsoka into the equation.

She's too important. Palpatine doesn't have a bounty over her head yet, and it must remain that way. For her sake, and that of the twins.

His azure eyes hardened once more, also sparkling now. "No, you're too important. I- I will fight him and find you. Go!"

Seeing no choice, Ahsoka grabbed the pre-prepared knapsack with clothes, food, and water canteen inside and slung it over her shoulders. She held Luke and Leia against her chest tightly and was about to leave when a hand came to rest on her shoulder. "Promise me, Snips," Anakin said softly. "Stay alive until this horror show is past. We're gonna fly a lot of flags half-mast."

"You too. Let's raise a glass to freedom."

Anakin nodded, kissing them gently on their foreheads before his war-hardened eyes turned to glare at the door.

That was her signal to flee.

A set of bright scarlet lightsabers began to cut a perfectly symmetrical circle in the front door, and before long, the unwelcomed guest stepped into the house with disdain. "Ah, Anakin," Palpatine sneered, "it's so good to see you again."

"Well, Chancellor," Anakin retorted, taking every chance to demean his opponent, "the same doesn't apply to you."

"Such a pity, my boy. You would've become such a powerful Sith under my tutelage."

"More like you wanted to take advantage of me. I know what you did to Plagueis, Palpatine. I know what you did to Maul and Savage. No wonder you're the only Sith left- you've murdered them all; Masters and Apprentices alike, once they've stopped being useful. That twisted logic of yours would've applied to me too."

"I always knew you were smart, Anakin. But let's see how intelligent you are when I remove your brains." Without warning, Palpatine lunged, blood-red blades igniting as he leaped at Skywalker.

Anakin's own faithful blue blade sprang to life, hissing as they sprang to life, countering the vicious attack. "I didn't know- an old man could- be strong," he snarked. "They're considered weak, defenceless." Obi-Wan would've been proud of that one.

"You'd be surprised- at how- that logic doesn't apply to Sith."

Magma and ocean clashed at blinding speeds, the world revolving solely around them. The intricate footwork and precise, lethal attacks of both duelers perfectly illustrated the never-ending clash between the Jedi and the Sith. Dust poured down on them, lightsaber slashes everywhere on walls and furniture. Beams were collapsing, walls were dangerously teetering and roof shingles were falling into holes the lightsabers had created.

Anakin's energy was rapidly failing. As Palpatine forced him up a set of stairs, he struggled to retain his footing. Panting heavily, he shoved the Emperor down the stairs with a tremendous push with all of his remaining energy. There was only enough time he could buy.

Although he was also tiring, Palpatine continued to draw from the infinite bank of Dark Side energy he relied on. He growled menacingly at his opponent, eyes shining with pure hatred.

But no. He found an opening, a precious opening. Skywalker held his lightsaber loosely in his non-dominant hand, desperately trying to regain his breath.

Stupid boy. You should've come to attack me while I was still down.

A dark smirk found its way onto Palpatine's mouth, extending his other hand to summon the second saber that had fallen from his robes.

"Now... you will die!" The Emperor's gnarled hand caught the extra hilt, releasing it without hesitation right at his unprepared opponent's chest.

As intended, an ugly diagonal wound appeared, blood flowing from Anakin's chest. "Checkmate, Skywalker. You should have attacked while I was momentarily down instead of regaining your strength. It lead to your doom. I have a final... gift... for you."

Palpatine stowed his lightsabers back into his robes. "Hnrgh!" Powerful Force Lightning shot out from the tips of his fingers, electrocuting his opponent; death was inevitable now.

"I gave you a chance, you threw it away. This is what happens when you disobey the power of the Dark Side!" He paused, grinning manically. "Such a shame the four hundred thousand credit bounty won't be collected."

"Go- to... hell!" Anakin uttered, just loud enough for Palpatine to hear. The latter merely scoffed, seeing no use replying to the feeble threat.

"My work is done here." With that, Palpatine left the carnage of the ruined house, leaving Anakin in what was once Ahsoka's room to die.

As his respiratory system failed, Anakin sent Ahsoka a final message using their decaying bond: "Stay safe, Snips... Don't let him win as I did. Say hello to the twins for me... I love you."

His lightsaber clattered to the ground.