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Anakin woke up, and the first thing he noticed was that he felt heavy. He couldn’t feel his legs, though when he looked down he could see they were strapped to a chair. Wait, he thought. Why is everything red? He looked down, only to notice his hands were also tied behind his back, and had force suppression cuffs on them. Great, he thought.
He was wearing a helmet of some kind, one that completely covered his face. Apparently the visor had a red filter on it? That would explain why everything was tinted red. The silence of the room was interrupted by a heavy breathing, one that sounded almost mechanical. It reminded Anakin of Grievous. Belatedly, he realized the breaths were in time with his own.
Before he could ponder his odd situation any further, the (cell?) door opened and a Togruta walked in. She turned to him, and he gasped. The respirator made a terrible noise, but he ignored it.
“Ahsoka?” he asked, then recoiled at the sound of his own voice. It was so deep and wrong. But he pushed the thought aside, because somehow Ahsoka, a full-grown Ahsoka, was standing in front of him.
She was tall, so much taller than he remembered her being. Her montrals and lekku had lengthened considerably, her leks reaching almost past her waist. The stripes on them had changed, too. Where they used to be thick and smooth, now they were thin and sharp. His eyes traveled to her face, and goodness, she was so grown up. Even her markings had changed- the white marks above her eyes now curved around, and the wings on her cheeks were elongated. But despite all of the changes, he would recognize her anywhere.
“How did you find us?” she asked, voice cold. It came out as more of a demand than a question.
“Ahsoka, I don’t know what’s going on. Why am I in this suit? Why are you so old? Where’s Obi-Wan?” he asked. Force, his voice sounded so weird. Ahsoka’s eyes narrowed, and she saw her jaw clench.
“I’m going to be asking the questions here- not you. And do not call me that. My name is Fulcrum,” she said.
“Fulcrum? C’mon, Snips, that’s a little weird, don’t you think?” Immediately after he said it, he knew he had made a mistake. Her hands shot down to her sides, and then her white lightsabers were crossed at his neck. White sabers?
“How do you know that name?” she snarled. And Anakin wasn’t scared of much, but right now, he was scared of her. He oh so wished that his hands were free so he could show he meant no harm.
“Ahsoka, it’s me, Anakin. It’s Skyguy,” he said, trying to keep his voice calm. It didn’t work well; the vocoder seemed to be designed to make his voice sound intimidating. Once again, Ahsoka bared her teeth at him. She has fangs now, he realized.
“You are not Anakin. Anakin is dead. Now answer me, how do you know that name, and how did you find us, Darth ?” He recoiled. Why would she call him Darth?
“Ahsoka, I promise it’s me! I don’t know what’s going on, I don’t know why I’m in this suit or why you don’t recognize me, but Ahsoka, I promise that it’s me!” he said, voice desperate. Her expression didn’t change, and he knew he hadn’t swayed her. “Okay, okay, umm. How about I tell you something only I would know?” he said. Still, she didn’t respond, and her lightsabers remained at his neck.
“You-” he took a breath, and it echoed around the room. “You died on Mortis. I didn’t want to tell you at first, but you were having nightmares, and Obi-Wan convinced me to tell you.” He saw her eyes widen almost imperceptibly. Finally, he was getting somewhere. “Oh! And- and when you were on the run, after the Temple bombing, I found you in the sewers. Ahsoka, if you asked, I could tell you everything we said that night. Please, please believe me,” he begged. Slowly, she backed away and disengaged her lightsaber, hooking them back on her belt.
“I’m still not convinced,” she said. But she at least looked intrigued, and she crossed her arms over her chest. “What year is it?” she asked. His brow furrowed, although she couldn’t see it.
“It’s 7958 C.R.C.” Ahsoka scoffed.
“And I’m a bantha,” she said, sarcasm dripping. “You’re 15 years off. It’s 7973.” Anakin felt his stomach drop all the way to his feet that he couldn’t feel.
“No, that can’t be. You’re on the way to Mandalore, and Obi-Wan and I are supposed to be on the way to save the Chancellor. I just gave you your sabers- they’re blue now, and you were going to capture Maul, and the war was about to end-“ she held up her hand and cut him off. For the first time, he realized how truly old she looked. Sure, she was clearly an adult now, but her eyes looked like they had seen too much.
“The war ended 15 years ago. The Republic lost. And my Master and the Jedi are dead,” she practically hissed out. Anakin felt his face pale.
“No, no, that can’t be right. We were winning! And the Jedi couldn’t have just died. Obi-Wan-” his voice cracked. “Obi-Wan couldn’t just die ,” he gasped out. Her eyes saddened even more, if that were possible.
“Obi-Wan Kenobi is dead. Slain at the hands of Darth Vader.” Vader. That’s a name he hadn’t heard before. But if he ever met this Vader, he would kill him and avenge Obi-Wan.
“Who is this Vader? ” Her eyes narrowed at him.
“ You are.”