A/N: Oneshot because I was inspired by Twilight of the Apprentice. So, yeah. Enjoy something of my view.

Darth Vader was... intrigued, would be the best way to put it. A mere child, a boy, had figured out the secrets to the Sith Temple, and activated it. Most intriguing. Vader, standing atop a ship, jumped down and landed before the boy in question. His tall, imposing form cast a shadow upon the boy. Vader's breath was audible, as always; it resounded slightly. Vader's emotionless mask pierced into the boy's very being. The boy activated his saber. Vader did so in turn.

"You have unlocked the secret of the Temple. How did you accomplish this?", Vader questioned the boy.

"You're smart, figure it out!", the boy retorted. Vader slashed down upon the boy, clashing sabers with the mere padawan. He was larger than the padawan, and so the boy was being pushed back by the strength.

"No matter. The power within will soon serve the Emperor."

"I don't fear you."

"Then you will die braver than most."

Vader brought down his saber, landing a powerful blow; the boy seemed to be pushed slightly by blocking it. It took merely a few slashes to end the battle, Vader having destroyed the foolish boy's saber; it lay on the ground, destroyed. Vader approached the boy, who scurried along the ground, moving away in fear.

"Perhaps I was wrong."

Vader raised his red saber, about to bring it down, when suddenly-

"It wouldn't be the first time."

That voice. Her voice. Vader turned to face the newcomer. Anakin Skywalker's apprentice, Ahsoka Tano. She stared at him.

"It was foretold that you would be here. Our long awaited meeting has come at last."

"I'm glad I gave you something to look forward to."

"We need not be adversaries. The Emperor will show you mercy, if you can tell me where the remaining Jedi can be found."

"There are no Jedi! You and your Inquisitors have seen to that!"

"Perhaps this child will confess what you will not."

"I was beginning to believe I knew who you were - behind that mask. But it's impossible. My master could never be as vile as you."

"Anakin Skywalker was weak. I destroyed him."

"Then I will avenge his death."

"Revenge is not the Jedi way."

"I'm no Jedi."

With that, their conversation ended. Vader and Ahsoka entered a fierce saber duel. Force blows were exchanged, as well. Vader battled her out of the Temple. Eventually, his power overwhelmed her and he pushed her over the side of a temple cliff ledge. Vader turned his attention once more into the Temple, wherein the other jedi and the boy were still in the process of retrieving the Holocron.

Vader walked slowly into the Temple. A shockwave emanated for a moment from the Holocron being taken. Vader slid back only slightly, but managed to hold his footing. As the master and his youngling were going to leave, Vader reached out with the Force; gripping to the Holocron. He was pulling the boy - his master dragging behind him - along with the Holocron.

Then, he sensed Ahsoka behind him - and heard the footsteps. He turned, slashing at her. She managed to deflect it, and slashed at his face. Vader tumbled over slightly as Ahsoka jumped away. Vader landed on his knees, his saber deactivated. He gripped onto his saber, breathing in a labored fashion. His mask was broken. He felt the stinging air around him, hitting his face- his eye. It burned him. It reminded him of the burning of Mustafar. It reminded him of who he was. The boy and the master were leaving. As Ahsoka started to rise, Vader managed to speak.

"Ahsoka.", his breath hitching slightly as he struggled. The mask broken, he was breathing pure air for the first time in a while. It didn't harm him, much; at least, to his knowledge. Ahsoka seemed to flinch as he spoke her name, he knew. He knew she had come to realize something. He felt great pain in the Force; Ahsoka's pain. Emotional pain. Ahsoka turned to face him. Vader looked at her, his damaged mask revealing some of his skin, and his molten eye.

"Ahsoka.", Vader said once more; his voice less disguised and hidden, sounding like a more mechanical Anakin Skywalker than the fearsome Vader. Ahsoka looked distraught, almost. Fear, pain, remorse, regret all flashed through her.

"Anakin?", she questioned. Vader hated that name. It reminded him of the pain. Of Padme. Of the betrayal. Of everyone who turned against him and treated him like a slave. Vader rose as Ahsoka did, looking straight at her, as she looked at him.

"I won't leave you! Not this time.", Ahsoka said. What did that mean? Vader stared at her, his eyebrow raising slightly. Was she going to join him? To return to him? Her body language said otherwise. She felt like Obi-Wan did on Mustafar. She was going to betray him - to kill him. For what reason? Anakin- no, Anakin was gone. Vader was here now. He remembered that. She could never join him. The Emperor wouldn't accept it. And she was a traitor, a Jedi, a liar. She had left him before. She was lying to him - trying to deceive him. He would not have it. Vader scowled, his molten eye narrowing at Ahsoka.

"Then you will die.", hearing those words leave his mask in Anakin Skywalker's voice made Vader disgusted. Ahsoka, looking determined, watched as Vader approached. The boy cried Ahsoka's name, trying to come for her; Ahsoka forcepushed him out of the temple as the temple doors finished closing completely. Vader slashed down at her, and she blocked it by crossing her sabers behind her; igniting them. They fought for a few seconds, before suddenly-

The shockwave destroyed the temple. Vader's saber, as well as Ahsoka's, were extremely damaged. The shockwave also damaged his armor slightly more, hardening his ability to breathe. Ahsoka looked at him with pity as she rose again, the blast having slightly injured her. Vader stared at her as he rose as well. For a moment, his gaze softened. He remembered something...

"I would never let anyone hurt you, Ahsoka. Never."

The memory burned into his memory. Anakin looked at her with sadness, the pain and grief returning to him of losing Padme. He remembered the times when he cared, when he was with her and with Ahsoka. Vader's eye narrowed once more as his eye became a deeper molten color; the memories hurt. The memories hurt him and he didn't want them! Anakin was dead; he was Vader now.

"You should hope we do not cross paths again.", was all he said to her. Vader began to limp, his mechanical legs damaged. He limped out of the Temple, leaving Ahsoka and what remained of his past behind forever. Ahsoka let tears fall from her face; he could hear her crying softly. Vader kept moving forward, not looking back. Ahsoka cast one more glance at Vader, her eyes full of tears.

"Goodbye, Anakin.", she said, turning. She waked deeper into the now destroyed Temple, hoping to meditate on the Force and figure something out. She knew she couldn't return to the Rebels. She knew that Anakin was warning her that if they met again, it would mean her death. Vader kept walking slowly, his molten eye full of rage, hatred and... grief. Incomprehensible amounts of grief. Only one tear fell down his cheek as he walked. Vader kept walking...trying to get far, far away from the only reminder to his past alive.

A/N: This is a oneshot, sadly. I just felt the need to write this. My perspective on things...