Four years after the rise of The Empire:

~Anakin's POV~

Anakin had been waiting for a week before Ahsoka arrived to rescue him. In all actuality, it probably had not been the best idea in the universe to fall asleep in his prison cell, but after a week of waiting boredily for Dooku to come in and at least do something with him, a Jedi got bored, training or no.

Anakin Skywalker yawned as his cell shook with the firepower Anakin assumed with which Ahsoka's cruiser was barraging Dooku's vessel. The twenty-seven year old Jedi knight stood, stretching.

This had been quite a nice break, but it was time to get back out there. Anakin leaned against the door, positive that Ahsoka would come to get him soon.

"Bout time, your late as usual, Snips," he grumbled, studying his fingers, hidden underneath black leather gloves. Anakin messed with his fingernails, thinking. How many hours are in a week, anyway? He contemplated.

Partly, that depended on what planet one was on and how fast that planet's rotations went. Or, if one was in space, you just used whatever time the nearest planet used, due to the fact that time and gravity did not exist in space.

Good force, Anakin thought, pensive. I must be bored if I'm trying to do math in a cell where rightfully I should still be asleep. Ahsoka's going to be the death of me someday.

Suddenly, the walls rumbled with another blast. Anakin could hear the sound of blasters, droids, clones and lightsabers coming his way. He smiled as two sabers, one green and the other lime; sliced through his doors and began cutting an oval. You could have just used the force to open the door you know, he sent through their bond.

Where's the fun in that? Came Ahsoka's strained head voice. The door, once complete, fell apart in the shape of an oval and standing before him was his former apprentice Ahsoka Tano, now twenty years old.

Anakin gave her a stern look. "You're late, Padawan," he drawled, extending his palm for his lightsaber. Ahsoka slapped it into his hand. Anakin nodded his thanks and peeked out of his cell at the chaos that had been wrought on his account. The clones were backing up, shooting wildly at the droid armada that had followed them there.

Through the smoke of blaster ammunition, Anakin heard the buzz of another lightsaber and grinned when he noticed the blue blade of his old master. He hadn't known Obi-wan was coming.

"It's not a party unless I'm late, Sky-guy," Ahsoka panted, also peeking around the corner. She frowned. "The clones have got the droids pinned down. Did you locate Darth Sidious?" She demanded.

Anakin nodded. "Yes, follow me," he ignited his lightsaber and charged back into the halls, calling the force to his side. With the snapping hiss of power, Ahsoka ignited her own weapon and thundered after him swiftly.

The two of them raced across the ship. Anakin had sensed Darth Sidious the second he had arrived on ship, and now he followed the mental trail he had made. It had been three years since he had last seen Darth Sidious, and every breath he had taken since then was a breath dedicated to bringing the vile Sith down. The man who had betrayed his trust and friendship.

"Behind this door," Anakin directed, as he came across the passageway. Ahsoka nodded curtly. "Are you ready?" She asked. Anakin nodded, exchanging a glance with the girl he had trained, his daughter and little sister.

He would die before any harm came to her; but that did not seem to discourage jeopardy from running after Ahsoka like a frenzied lover. "Stay close to me," he ordered her, who, despite all, had already been knighted; they were equals now. Or so to speak.

Ahsoka did not answer, only bounced on her heels in a roll of tensed energy, prepared for battle. Anakin walked up to the door, and knocked politely. The doors slid open, propelled by two droid guards. Ahsoka cut them both down before Anakin could blink.

He rushed into the room. Only to find it empty. Anakin stared, his eyes flicking to and fro, the force dancing in every corner, seeing what he could not, he felt Ahsoka doing the same. "He's gone," the truth. Anakin's fists clenched.

"He can't just have vanished," Anakin said, frustrated. He had sat in the cell for a week; and for what? Nothing at all? They had fought a four year war for nothing? No. he wanted this fight to end. No more war.

"I'm afraid he did," oh great, it was Dooku. Ahsoka swiveled around, both lightsabers ready to kill. Anakin did not flinch. He could take Dooku; he needed Sidious. Ahsoka sighed. "You, again?" She hissed.

"Where's Sidious, Dooku?" Anakin demanded, turning. He crossed his arms, which earned a cold look from his old enemy. He had not seen nor fought Dooku face-to-face in two years, admittedly, and he assumed that both of them had improved in their skills. Could he just leave Ahsoka here alone, then?

"I'm afraid my master has already escaped," Dooku informed him diplomatically. He unclasped the latch on his cloak, letting it fall to the ground with a flair of drama. Anakin sighed, unimpressed. "I don't have time for you," he growled. Ahsoka smiled amusedly and shook her head at his impatience.

Count Dooku merely shook his head slowly. "I would have thought Master Kenobi would have taught you some manners, boy," he sneered. "Oh, he tried," Anakin agreed, ignoring Dooku pointedly, as the Sith advanced on them.

He looked around. How had Sidious gotten out without at least crossing their paths? There must have been a secret door somewhere, but where? "And failed," Ahsoka added cheerfully. Dooku stopped, his eyes flicking from Anakin to Ahsoka with annoyance.

"I see. Well, since you have no time for me, might you have time for them?" Dooku asked, gesturing to the ceiling. On cue, a dozen magna guards, Dooku's chosen bodyguards, flipped down from the ceiling, staffs ready and buzzing. Anakin ignited his saber at once. Now the stakes were higher.

Obi-wan, he called through the force as he crouched defensively, lightsaber up. Sidious is somewhere running loose. Dooku has me and Ahsoka penned up here. Try to find him, will you? I'll catch up with you as soon as I cut Dooku down to shape, he called as Ahsoka ran forward, clashing sabers with three of the magna guards. Anakin attacked the other three himself.

No time for that, Anakin. We have to leave immediately. Dooku is distracting you. We're being swamped by droids, came the calm, accented reply. Anakin huffed, accepting this, ducking a quick jab to the head.

Then he hissed in pain as an electro-staff swept him off his feet. He pushed the droid away with the force, glancing over at the spot Dooku had been in a second ago. The Sith was gone.

"Ahsoka!" He yelled over to her. She was doing better than him; the blasted girl. Anakin rolled to his feet, and quickly cut down the droid in front of him. "Snips, we've got to leave now, our forces are retreating," he called. Ahsoka shared his look of frustration; this mission had failed.

"Time to leave? About time, I wanted to leave when I got here," she answered though, keeping the frustration in her heart carefully guarded. Anakin had to smile at her maturity. He turned, wondering if they could take the ship, while they were at it.

He was not willing to accept total defeat, not yet. He raised his comm. Link to his lips. "Rex," he snapped to his captain. "Where are you?" He asked. "Near the west wing hangar, sir. We've been pushed back," came the instant reply. Anakin thought a moment, that wasn't too far away from the bridge, since the Sith had abandoned ship….

"Belay that course," he ordered. "Me and Ahsoka are going to take the ship," he ducked against the magna-guards slash and spun around, hacking off its head. The droid came back, unlike most other mechanically controlled figures; magna guards didn't actually need their heads.

"We're what?" Ahsoka demanded. "Taking the ship," Anakin repeated as he parried the magna-guards attack. "Sir," Rex argued. "We're outnumbered!" He reminded Anakin.

The Jedi rolled his eyes. "As if we've never been outnumbered before. I mean to take this ship, Captain. Get your troops up there, we'll focus on the droids once we're in control of the bridge," he said.

"As you say, general," Rex sighed. Ahsoka cut down their last attacker before giving Anakin her signature: 'You're a reckless, unorthodox idiot, you know that right?' look. "Don't look at me that way," Anakin scolded, putting his saber back on his belt. He glanced up.

"You take the vents," he planned. "And meet me up there. I'll gather Rex and help them plow through," he said. Ahsoka sighed, shaking her head, but without a word, used the force to rip open the vent head above her and jumped into it obediently. Anakin spun on his heel and ran out of the door, headed straight for his troops.

I'll get you one day, Sith spit, he vowed to Sidious, bitterly. Three years of war, and he wanted it to end. He had had enough. "Anakin," his comm. link sighed in Obi-wan's exasperated and unhappy tone. "What in the blazes do you suppose you're doing?" He asked.

Anakin only kept running. "What's that, master? Sorry, but I can't hear past the cranky, accented, commanding barve trying to lecture me," he replied snappishly.

"Very funny," Obi-wan intoned dryly. "And I wasn't trying to lecture you. I was on the verge of lecturing you," Anakin rolled his eyes, but he had to smile. "And I ask you again, what are you doing?" Obi-wan asked.

"Taking the bridge, what are you doing?" Anakin answered cheerfully as he quickly cut down too unawares droids. "Anakin, we're outnumbered…" Obi-wan began. "Between you, me and Ahsoka I'm sure we'll handle that problem with ease," Anakin interrupted as he heard the faint vibration of a skirmish. His guess was that it was Rex.

"Do you even have a plan?" Obi-wan demanded. "I have an outline of a plan, does that count?" Anakin wondered. "You know it doesn't," Obi-wan huffed, as if he had not heard Anakin's sarcasm.

Anakin turned the corner and found himself in the middle of droids and clones, as he had so many times before. In a flash, he had whipped out his saber.

At the start of the Clone War he had gone out of his way to destroy all of the droids, force knew he could, but that exerted energy quickly, and in the Clone War, the chances of getting killed or hurt were slimmer. Anakin had learned quickly. He deflected bolts, slowly moving forward.

The clones followed as Obi-wan went on with his lecture. "Something tells me your mind is firmly set on creating this chaos?" Obi-wan wondered disapprovingly. "Yep," Anakin grunted, flicking his wrist in an uncomfortable motion in order to save Blazer from certain death.

"You're just angry Sidious escaped without a fight, aren't you?" Of course he was. That still wasn't the point. A moment of silence from the other end before Obi-wan sighed theatrically. "Fine, since you're determined to cause me more gray hairs, what do you need me to do?"

That was the answer Anakin had been waiting for. "At the moment? Keep chopping down droids. Let's see if we can get the odds evened out a bit," he said as they neared the bridge doors.

Suddenly, said doors opened and a single magna guard fell into the aisle, chopped into seven different pieces. Ahsoka Tano stood in the entryway, hands on her hips. Upon noticing the droids Anakin and his troops had yet to destroy, she dashed into the fight, moving so swiftly that Anakin saw a mere blur where she had once been.

"Good to see ya, Snips," he breathed once the last droid had fallen. He paced to the bridge. "All the droids destroyed?" He inquired. Ahsoka nodded, following on his heels. "Only you would be able to almost single-handedly take a Sith cruiser in less than twenty minutes, master," she sighed, her voice partly amused and partly admiring. Anakin winked at her.

"Just doing what I do, old friend. Come on, men," he gestured to the troops behind him, all of whom were frankly unsurprised. The clones jogged after Anakin, pushing the destroyed droids from their seats and took their places at the controls.

Anakin grinned, walking down the narrow walking board to look out at the Rebel ships firing at them. "Order your ships to stand down," he instructed.

Ahsoka turned away, doing that. Anakin raised his comm. link to his lips. "Obi-wan, Ahsoka and I have taken the bridge, what's your status?" He requested. "Oh, Anakin, there you are," Anakin swiveled around to see Obi-wan Kenobi walk unto the bridge, his lightsaber put away and confident swagger still in place. He grinned. Following Obi-wan was his right hand man, Commander Cody, and the rest of the clones.

"You took down all the droids already?" Anakin asked, feigning surprise. Obi-wan cocked an eyebrow as if Anakin had offended him in some way.

"Of course, Anakin, you don't suppose you learned your resourceful courage from Qui-gon, do you?" He snorted. Anakin chuckled and shook his head as two of his best friends joined him staring at the stars.

"Well, we didn't fail completely," said the youngest of them, professionally. "There's a positive way to look at it," Anakin agreed. Obi-wan remained silent, deep in thought. Anakin glanced casually over, making sure Obi-wan's eyes were still the standard blue. They were.

"Why wouldn't Sidious stay?" Obi-wan muttered suddenly, the gears in his mind churning. "He had us outnumbered, and with all three of us momentarily busy, he could have easily captured all of us, which would be a bonus for him. And he could have come in and tried to entice you anytime during the week, Anakin. Or did he try?" Anakin shook his head, wondering where Obi-wan was going with this. "Then he abandoned ship, even though he had us outnumbered," Obi-wan stroked his beard, brows crinkled in concentration.

"Not really," Ahsoka pointed out. "We brought three cruisers, remember? Sidious knew we'd take over eventually," she pointed out. Obi-wan shook his head. "But why not capture us before he made his escape? Something about this doesn't add up," he considered.

Anakin was tempted to wave away the threat, but he had learned that usually Obi-wan had a way of predicting the future with his cunning. "It does us no good to try and guess the aspirations of a Sith madman now. We should focus on the victory at hand," he reminded Obi-wan tactfully. That earned him a rolling of the eyes from Ahsoka and a proud grin from Obi-wan, who set a hand on his shoulder.

"Indeed, my old apprentice. I've taught you well if you're teaching me now," he chuckled. Anakin crossed his arms, not meeting the eyes, which he knew, underneath the blue, were really blind. It still gave him a pang. Neither of them would ever forgive Bruck for what he had done.

"Someone has to," he pointed out as Rex walked up. "Sir, what should we do now?" His first in command questioned. Anakin smiled, this was almost the exact picture of the Clone Wars, the deadly but much more lenient war before the Sith War. And it had the same characters. Just him, Ahsoka and Obi-wan against the universe.

How things had changed.

"Jump into hyperspace, Rex," Ahsoka ordered, smiling in remembrance. "We're going home," Anakin nodded in agreement as Rex jogged off, perfectly content with his lot in life. "How things have changed," Obi-wan muttered, as Anakin knew he would eventually. The three stared at each other, grinned, and looked back out the window.

How things had changed.


I'm sorry it took so long, but I'm back! Warning: in the midst of me writing this story, it took on a life of its own and suddenly I wasn't doing anything but punching in the words, servant to it's command. It's one of the seven wonders of the world for a writer to create a story, but altogether magnificent when the story creates the writer like this one has me.

~Queen Yoda