This mini-plot has been in my mind for weeks and I eventually had to get it out of my system. It's set some time after Twilight of the Apprentice, and obviously it would mean that Ahsoka is still alive - something that is still unsure at the time I'm writing this. (Besides, I do not accept that she might be dead anyway.) Let's assume she learns about Obi-Wan somehow and manages to find him, and those two get a hug they really deserve.

First posted on my Tumblr, but I wanted to put it here with my other works.

She let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding. Sure, he looked old now - older than he should, really, due to all these years under Tatooine's unforgiving suns. But his eyes… They were still the same. Being confronted to Anakin- no, Vader's Sith stare had shaken her strongly enough that looking into the blue eyes of her grandmaster was unexpectedly comforting. Suddenly, the Force didn't feel so empty anymore, and his presence in it was accompanied by a warmth she hadn't felt in far too many years.

Obi-Wan was truly here.

Alive.

She realized he was still staring at her, dumbfounded. Oh, how fun that would have been if she had managed this during the war - she, a simple Padawan, leaving the great Negotiator speechless. She and Anakin would have had teased him forever about it.

Her chest tightened again. Anakin. Did Obi-Wan know- of course he did. He had to. And he had probably spent all those years blaming himself for what had happened. After all, hadn't she done the same after finding out? But it wasn't her fault. It wasn't Obi-Wan's. Yet she knew he might never admit it. She knew he had cared for Anakin at least as much as she did. More, even. Those two were so close. Had he been there back then? Did he witness Anakin's Fall? She couldn't bear to imagine facing the years alone after something like this.

"Ahsoka… How…"

The voice was less steady than in her memories, but it was still unmistakably his. He seemed to be having a hard time processing the fact that she was alive. Well, to be fair, learning about him had been quite a surprise too. Let's not even mention finding out that Anakin was still alive. Although the shock she had felt then may have been caused by somewhat different reasons.

This, however, was far from the bad surprise she had with her old master. It was a good one. A happy moment. Something that had been too rare since the rise of the Empire.

Tears welled up in her eyes as she gave Obi-Wan a fond smile and wrapped her arms around him, whispering his name.

"Obi-Wan."

What-

How-

His mind had pretty much gone blank upon opening the door. Even though she had changed a lot since her Padawan days, he would have recognized the Togruta girl anywhere. He could sense her familiar presence in the Force. It was a comforting feeling, one he had given up on for so many years.

Ahsoka.

She was alive.

He was still struggling to think as he was pulled into a hug. There were so many questions he wanted to ask but he was unable to speak. As it turns out, it also seemed like he was unable to move. Oh, the irony.

After the initial shock, came the relief. Thankfulness, that she had been able to escape and hide for all these years. Palpatine and his Empire didn't destroy everything. Then, the doubt. How did she find him? Could others know? Was Luke still safe? Of course. It was fine. She never would have taken such a risk if she hadn't been sure of herself. He had trusted her with his life before, why should it be any different now?

He swallowed the lump that was forming in his throat. He had trusted her… Yet he had done nothing to help her. He had let her be wrongly accused, he had let her leave the Order. He had failed her. And then he had failed her again by failing her master. Did she know, about Anakin? Maybe she just thought him dead alongside the other Jedi. Maybe that was close enough to the truth. Less painful, even.

"I've seen him."

His heart sank.

So, she knew, then.

She knew.

"I'm sorry."

His voice sounded more broken than he had hoped.

"Please. Don't. It's not your fault."

Right. Probably. Not like he would ever be able to convince himself of that, but hearing her say it felt good. In his exile, he had spent so much time thinking about it, replaying everything in his head, trying to understand where it all went wrong. In the end, Palpatine had always been ahead of them. So, maybe, maybe there was nothing anyone could have done.

And yet, even after all these years spent meditating and trying to let go of his emotions, the guilt was still there, deep down. Not only for all the people who had died, but also for Anakin. His best friend, his brother, the boy he had swore to protect and train… How did everything go so wrong? He should have seen it. He should have talked to him more. He couldn't accept that Anakin's Fall had been inevitable- that his friend would have willingly made this choice.

No. Just like everyone else, he had been a victim of the Sith Lord. He had been the first to die. Whoever stood underneath that wretched armor was not Anakin Skywalker. There was nothing left of his former Padawan. Ahsoka's master.

Ahsoka. Right now, she was probably the only person alive who had loved Anakin as much as he did. She would be the only one able to understand how painful it was to remember the man he used to be, to think about who he should have become.

But she was also so much more. For the first time since the Jedi temple had been raided, he wasn't alone anymore. He couldn't care less that she had left the Order before everything fell into ruins, it's not like it meant anything anymore. Here and now, after so many years spent in solitude trying to replace his guilt with hope, she carried within her something he thought he had lost forever.

He finally relaxed and wrapped his arms around her.

She was family.

I hope you enjoyed this short story :-)

Also I hope it wasn't too poorly written, I struggled a lot more than I used to for my older fics... I think the lack of sleep that comes with being a new mom kinda fried my brain. Anyway, I just wanted to give those two a brief moment of happiness, they're my favorite characters after all and they've been through too much horrible stuff.