Anakin POV
"I'm sorry general, but the healing process will take some time," the medical droid said.
I ran my fingers against the bandage around my neck.
Windu and Master Yoda walked into the room as the droid was leaving. Master Yoda had a look of concern on his face as he approached the bed. I sat up to face them and I could have sworn I saw Mace's lips curve like he's hiding a grin.
"The council has decided to lay you off until you are fully healed," Mace said. I bet he's actually happy I'm off the battlefield. Sides I can almost feel the excessive amount of joy in the force that he is failing to hide.
"Fight you cannot, in your condition," Yoda said as he made full eye contact with me. "Also vulnerable you are, dangerous it would be to expose you to the enemy."
"You will also remain in Coruscant, your padawan on the other hand will join Master Kenobi for now." Mace said, and long time ago he said I had a hard time controlling my feelings. Even though that man is so overjoyed right now that a non force signature person could even feel it.
"Stay here, you must!" Yoda said gripping the top part of his staff with two hands tightly.
"If you leave, there will be some serious consequences," Mace said putting his hands on his hips. God, he acts like I'm twelve.
They both have their eyes locked on me; I simply nod yes to let them know I understand.
Both of the masters bowed slightly and left the room. The joy that had once filled the force around me was now gone. Now it's just the pain left over from what the pain killers couldn't get rid of.
One more time I run my mechanical fingers over the bandages.
One shot. One simple shot was all it took.
Not only did the shot send me to the emergency room, it also knocked out my major use of communication.
My voice.
The voice I use to warn clones of enemies. The voice I use to teach my padawan new things. The voice I even use to tell my wife I love her is now gone.
The bandages around my neck are woven in layers to keep it from infection. The bacta tank did the best it could, the droid said, but it couldn't fix a lot of it. Reason being, because the shot was so severe.
Even after all of this I don't even know who fired the shot? The medical droid said it couldn't have been a clone but neither a seperatist droid. That does make me wonder, because the shot was fired in the middle of battle. But I mean hey, plenty of other Jedi get accidently shot all the time! It's not like it's a new thing, just my shot was a little more drastic. And who ever fired it just got lucky, that's all, right?
Staring out the window thinking, I hear the room door open. Turning to face the door, I see the gentle face of my padawan. She steps in slowly and closes the door behind her. "I thought I would come see how you were doing before I left with Master Kenobi." Her face is full of concern. Obi wan said she felt really guilty for letting me get shot while she was only a few feet away. He said he told her not to worry about it, and that something's just happen. But I guess she's still taking it kind of hard. Her face says how sorry she is, but the force is filled with the same feeling I had for years. Regret.
She came over and sat next to me on the bed. I placed my arm over her shoulder and lean her against my body. She looked up only to see me smiling at her. She smiled back but only for a second when her face returned to that concerned-worried look again.
"Master, I-" Ahsoka began but was stopped by the gentle placement of my hand on her mouth. She looked at me with those big blue eyes only to see me shake my head.
I don't want to hear an apology for something that wasn't her fault. I pulled her into a gentle embrace. We were like this for maybe ten seconds until she wrapped her arms around me and tightly squeezed. She clawed into the back of my white shirt I was wearing. Her face buried deep in my chest. I gently laid my cheek against her as she pulled tighter against my clothing. She must feel awful about this whole thing.
After a few minutes we broke apart. I looked at her, only to see the watery blue eyes. She wiped the tears away gently and looked up at me. She gave a hopeful smile. Smiling back I rested my hand on her shoulder. "Thanks," she said, still smiling.
"Padawan Tano," her comlink went off. She brought her arm up to her mouth and pressed the button, "yes?"
"You're going to be late if you don't hurry, young one." From the tone of the voice it sounded like Master Plo Koon.
"Ah! Sorry Master I'll be down right away!" She said back.
She clicked it off and gave me another hopeful hug before sprinting out the door. I hope she'll be okay.
After spending maybe twenty minutes getting dressed I finally left the room. I walked down the corridors of the Jedi temple for a little bit. The view has always had this wow factor. The millions of ships flying across the dim sky as night began to fall. I heard laugher so I looked down the corridor only to see a few young ones running around. They look like they are playing a game of keep away from each other. There were a few tall ones throwing a bag to one another and not letting the short one get it. I'm pretty sure if master Yoda saw this he would be giving them a four hour long lecture on what team work is and why it is important.
"Good afternoon, Skywalker." I turned to see Captain Tarkin smiling with his hands behind his back. "I heard about your accident, I am greatly sorry. I thought I might help you out though. You see, here in Coruscant everyone knows you have a certain way with your words and it must be awful to go a long time without it. So I thought I could give you something that might benefit." He smiled. What could he possibly have?
He revealed a board with a black marker attached to it. It was about medium size and looked kind of expensive. "Please, I would be honored for you to have this." He handed me the board. I immediately wrote "Thank you, very much!" on it and smiled at him. He simply smiled back, "It was not an issue, I assure you." He said while waving his hand back and forth. "Oh, and I almost forgot! The chancellor would like to see you in his office as soon as possible." I nodded yes, and he tilted his head down for a goodbye and walked away.
I made my way over to the senate building as soon as I could get there. I walked into the building and notice all the senators were gone. They must be having a discussion, that means Padme is with them, and so it the chancellor.
I went ahead and made my way to the Chancellors office. I walked in and saw the regular red paint on the walls and the big desk. I went and sat in one of the seats in front of his desk. His room always gave a different feeling than any other room I've ever been in. His desk was filled with important items. He must have been really busy lately.
I noticed there was a chain hanging off the side of the desk under all the papers. It looked like a necklace type chain; it was black with a really shiny polish. I ran my fingers lightly against the chain. I could feel a weird sensation coming from it. Almost like it is filled with something. But what?
I began to gently pull the chain hoping to reveal what was underneath all of the papers when I felt the presence of the chancellor through the force. I quickly let go and sat back against my seat. What in the force name is that thing?
