Nobody could prove that after arriving on the ship, Anakin had been avoiding Ahsoka.
There had been a lot of paperwork to file on the strange signal and how, as far as the GAR and the Jedi Council needed to be concerned, nothing had been there for them to investigate. Since it was officially a mission the 501st had been sent on, it had been Anakin's job to do the paperwork. And if he'd hidden in on board quarters a little bit later than expected to make a call to Padmé after getting the worst feeling that she wasn't okay, then that wasn't an out of character action for him either.
There wasn't a way for Anakin to lie to himself that he was avoiding Ahsoka, however. It hadn't hit him in the moment, the desire to keep her safe and get off the planet had taken precedence to anything else, but now that he was safe, that they were all safe, Anakin couldn't stop replaying the fight against her in his head. When she'd been controlled by the Son, when she'd been taken by the Dark side for that brief moment.
When he'd held her cold body after the Son had stolen the life from her for what could have been for good had it not been for the Daughter's sacrifice.
He shouldn't be lingering on something that hadn't even stuck, but the idea that he could lose her forever had struck him. It was such a terrifying thought. Ahsoka was his Padawan, she was his responsibility, and he couldn't imagine the idea of failing to save her, not now. Not when she'd hidden so much resentment for him that he hadn't even known about.
Logically, he knew the words that had left her mouth when she'd fought him were nothing more than empty words said by the Son, but the idea that she secretly hated him and everything he did with her, the idea that she thought he didn't trust her, they were burning at him inside.
So Anakin had decided to do what he does best and avoid the problem entirely. He could avoid talking to her until they got back to Coruscant, spend a few days outside of the temple until the thought and fears were out of his mind, and then finally he could resume teaching her as though Mortis hadn't happened. It was what she would want, and it was what he would find easiest to handle. He was sure Obi-Wan could handle teaching her until then.
A knock on the door disrupted his thoughts as he finished up the paperwork in front of him. "Doors open!"
The door slid open moments later, Anakin waiting to hear what whatever clone it was had decided he wanted to bring up. "Hey Master!" Before she could say anything else, Anakin spun around to see Ahsoka standing in the doorway. "I was hoping you'd be here, I've been looking all over for-"
"Ahsoka?" He stared at her for a moment. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, if you hadn't interrupted me, you would've known I was in here looking for you. Rex was asking a lot of questions about what happened, and I figured it'd be better if you were the one to answer them since it was your idea we don't tell the Jedi what was going on." Ahsoka rolled her eyes, sitting down on the bed.
Anakin frowned. "Tell him not to worry. I'll see him when we get back. I've got to finish writing the reports."
"Reports you never write." Ahsoka pointed out. Anakin attempted not to wince at the accusation that he might not have heard otherwise. "Come on Skyguy, we both know it wouldn't take you this long normally. Rex and I are worried about you. Obi-Wan too."
Anakin clenched his hands. "I'm fine Ahsoka, just drop it."
"You're obviously not fine if you're acting like this!" Ahsoka had shouted at him, but her voice dropped moments later. "All three of us went through the same thing on Mortis. Whatever's going on, even if you can't talk to Rex, you can talk to Obi-Wan and I. We want to help."
"Do you really?" The comment escaped from Anakin's mouth before he could stop it, and he was immediately filled with regret when Ahsoka stepped back, as though hurt. "Sorry, I just..."
"You think I don't care about you?" Ahsoka's shock leaked into the Force, and all Anakin could feel was more guilt from asking the question, the one he'd been avoiding Ahsoka for just so he wouldn't ask. "How could you even think that?"
Anakin didn't answer. How could he even answer that fairly to her? This is why he just wanted to avoid her until he was sure the thoughts were long since beaten out of his brain. "Don't worry about it Sni-"
"Don't call me that! I hate it when you call me that!"
"-Ahsoka." He caught himself before he finished calling her that, the memory of her hating the teasing nickname he'd given her burning him up from the inside even now. "I'm just tired from everything, that's all."
He'd hoped his tone had left no room for debate, but it seemed as though Ahsoka wasn't about to let it go. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"Would I be lying to you if I wasn't?"
"Yes." Ahsoka's answer left no room for debate, but Anakin wasn't in the mood to entertain it either. Ahsoka continued to watch him, not leaving, but not saying anything either.
Anakin was content to just let her sit there in silence if that was what she wanted, and continued to fake working on his fake paperwork when Ahsoka spoke up again. "You've never stopped yourself from calling me 'Snips' before."
Despite what she had said under the influence of the Son, Anakin could detect a bit of hurt in her voice, which gave him pause enough for him to answer. "You said you didn't like it."
"When did I ever say that?" she asked.
"Back on Mortis. While you were under the Son's control, you said you hated the nickname, so I figured I should stop using it." It wasn't something Anakin would forget easily. He wanted to keep quiet about the rest, but it was hard to keep anything in once he'd started. "You said a lot of things, actually."
Ahsoka shook her head and laughed. "Come on Skyguy, you know I didn't mean anything I said then, right?" When Anakin didn't answer, Ahsoka's expression became more serious. "What did I say?"
"Ahsoka, this isn't your burden to make me feel better about it." Anakin would not tell Ahsoka anything more about this. He just had to make it to Coruscant without revealing anything more of what was going through his head. He just had to get her to leave. He just had to stop the reminders of their fight from circulating there and he'd be fine.
"Master, I know you don't want to tell me, and that's fine, but..." She sighed. It was clear she wanted to counteract what the Son had said directly, but couldn't without Anakin elaborating. "Whatever it was, I never meant any of it. You have to know that."
"I know." Deep down, he did. He always would. Just as he would burn down the world for Ahsoka, he knew she would do the same for him. Ignoring the sting of what she'd said to him, however, was another story. "And you know that I trust you? And that I'm proud of you, right? Because if you don't, I can't imagine there's anybody I'd be more proud of. You're my Padawan and I-"
She put up her hand, stopping his words in his tracks, as though just from his reassurances of how much she meant to him, Ahsoka knew just what she had said. "I know." She pulled him into a quick hug, and Anakin returned it, trying to soak in Ahsoka's emotions, to truly know that she knew he had faith in her, and that he wanted her around. That his first impressions were wrong and he couldn't imagine a better Padawan.
Ahsoka broke the hug first, a smile on her face. "If you still want to be alone, I'll leave you to your paperwork, but Anakin, there's no one I'd rather have for a master than you."
It was rare for Ahsoka to use his first name, he wasn't sure he could remember the last time she'd said it to him, if she ever had, and to him, it showed just how serious she was.
The thoughts and insecurities that had swirled around in his head since Mortis had finally stopped, and Anakin smiled as he ran to catch up with her. "Hey Snips, maybe just a couple of matches wouldn't hurt before I go finish up the mission debrief." She smiled as he caught up to her, and the two kept pace.
Maybe he wasn't the master that Ahsoka deserved, or even if he was the best master she could have, and maybe there was some resentment buried deep down and what the Son had had her say on Mortis was the truth of how she felt.
But just like he'd chosen and loved her, she'd chosen and loved him, and for Anakin, that was enough.