Hello! It's...almost 10:30 pm over here in New York! XD Don't ask me why I'm still writing at this time of night, (even though it's not that late for me...once I stood up 'till around one in the morning on a SCHOOL NIGHT,) but I was bored and desperate to finish SOMETHING. I have been a HUMONGOUS procrastinator when it comes to school work and to be honest, it's been stressing me out.
Of course, my natural instinct to NOT feeling like a total loser is to finish up a writing piece that I've started over the weekend. This is for randomreader WITH a profile, who was one of my faithful, awesome reviewers for my very first Clone Wars story-writing-mania over the summer. XD Good times, good times...I hope to write out my heart's content over this summer, as well.
Wait...it's February. I shouldn't get too excited. UGH, and I'm rambling YET again! This is what I get for procrastinating and staying up with stress overload. -_- Anyways, (I just realize that I overuse that word in my A/Ns...-_-) this is for randomreader WITH a profile who wanted this sort of hurt!Ahsoka fic...here you go, my dear! :)
Anakin Skywalker knew that something was wrong even before the mission went into chaos.
For one, he could feel Ahsoka's Force presence anywhere.
He had just thrown his cloak onto his bunk when he groaned, "Snips…what exactly are you doing here?"
On cue, the familiar Togrutan face jumped down from the vents in the ceiling and grinned. "Oh, come on, Master—do you really think I'd let you get all the fun?" Ahsoka asked, crossing her arms. "After all, it's boring in the Temple these days. Everyone's away—and I mean everyone."
Anakin glared at Ahsoka and said, "I gave you specific orders to stay on Coruscant!"
"You told me once that following orders isn't always the solution." Ahsoka replied casually. "Besides—remember the last time you told me to stay in the Temple? I ended up being on the mission, anyways."
"You were lucky." Anakin muttered.
"I was not!" Ahsoka said crossly. "If it weren't for me, you and the rest of the rescue team would be stuck outside of the Citadel's walls and probably taken hostage, too!"
"It was one casualty, Snips—I'm sure we would have figured something out without you." Anakin shot back, sitting down on the bunk. "Now tell me why you decided to disobey orders—I thought I told Master Plo to keep an eye on you."
Ahsoka sighed in exasperation and rolled her eyes. "I told you—everyone left, remember? Everyone friendly, at least. He had to dash."
Anakin rubbed his temples tiredly and looked up at his apprentice. "Ahsoka, this isn't like the Citadel. This is one of the most dangerous missions any of us has ever been on—it was top secret to even most of the Order." He said quietly.
"You're not exactly good at hiding secrets, Skyguy. Or, at least, not as good as you think." Ahsoka replied and climbed onto the opposite bunk. "Ooh, look—there's even an extra bed!" She smiled sweetly over to Anakin. "See? It's the will of the Force for me to join you on this top secret mission."
"Don't mock me, Snips." Anakin said promptly and swung his legs over the bunk.
Ahsoka snorted. "Oh, please. You can do that on your own." She said lightly.
Anakin opened his mouth to retort when the door slid open with a hiss of air.
"General." Captain Rex nodded respectfully to Anakin and he smiled.
"'lo, Captain—am I needed?" Anakin asked, standing up.
"You are. We've just come out of hyperspace." Rex replied.
Anakin's muscles subconsciously tightened. "Gather the squad in the cargo bay—I'll be with you in a couple of minutes." He said.
Rex nodded and walked out of the room.
Anakin picked up his cloak and as he opened the door, Ahsoka followed him out.
•◊•
"How did you get this ship, anyways? It's not exactly issued by the Republic, right?" Ahsoka asked, looking around the dark cargo bay.
"We had a spy take it for us first." Anakin replied. "So, no, it wasn't made by the Republic."
"Uh-huh…so where are we going again?" Ahsoka asked.
Anakin hesitated. He wasn't exactly keen to tell his young apprentice where their destination would be—but at the same time, it wouldn't matter. Ahsoka would be staying on the ship.
"We don't know the planet's name—just the coordinates." Anakin replied quietly. "But what we do know is that in the time of the Sith Empire, many ferocious beasts were trained there—they later became weapons. There have been rumors and sightings of these beasts being trained by the Sith again and if those rumors are true…" He didn't bother finishing the sentence.
"Chaos." Ahsoka said. "But how could this ship be taken from the Sith? I mean, they're supposedly all-powerful—they would be able to sense a spy in the field, right?"
"Not if it was a droid." Anakin replied with a grin. "Good, old fashioned reprogramming trick."
"Uh-huh…but wouldn't the Sith have noticed that a ship was missing by now?" Ahsoka asked, crossing her arms.
"This ship was taken a week and a half ago—so, yes, they're probably somewhat suspicious, but it'll be back in a couple of minutes so I don't think they need to worry." Anakin smirked.
"So we're flying in one of the versions of hell? Sounds great!" Ahsoka said sarcastically.
"Don't put it like that, Snips. You won't be going." Anakin replied coolly.
Ahsoka's eyes widened but before she could protest, a small squad of troopers walked into the cargo bay and Anakin had begun to share the plan for breaking into the facility.
•◊•
The minute the troopers had walked out of the cargo bay, Anakin was attacked by a rather furious Ahsoka Tano.
"What do you mean, I won't be going?" Ahsoka demanded indignantly. "Master, if it's going to be the Sith, you're going to need someone to watch your back!"
"I've got Rex and the other troopers—we're all looking out for each other already." Anakin replied, making sure that his light saber was fastened to his belt.
He heard Ahsoka making a harrumphing noise and she said, "Rex is a great guy, Master—really, he is. He's probably one of the best troopers—best captains—I have ever met, but you know that I have better reflexes than him. He's not Force-sensitive, remember?"
"That doesn't matter, Snips." Anakin responded steadily. He threw his hood over his head. The ship could be entering the atmosphere any minute. "Besides, who would have your back?"
Ahsoka blinked in surprise. "Isn't in obvious?" She asked.
Anakin shook his head. "Not really."
Ahsoka frowned and took a step towards Anakin, her eyes narrowed. "You would—duh." She managed a small laugh. "That's what we do best, right? As a team? Have each other's backs?"
Anakin sighed and looked down at Ahsoka. Her eyes were wide and sincere, looking genuinely anxious about what was yet to come.
"It's too risky. I can't have you throwing yourself out there like that." Anakin said quietly. "You'll be safer here."
"No, I won't. If what you said earlier was true, the Sith will automatically come towards this ship and look around to see what the heck happened to this junk heap in the first place. You and Rex and the rest of the squad would already be going to get whatever information you need, and I'd have to fend off for myself." Ahsoka shot back.
Anakin paused. He ran the possibilities over his head—what Ahsoka had pointed out was, (sadly,) true. She'd be in more danger if she stayed.
"General, we've entered the atmosphere!" Rex's voice was heard from the opposite side of the cargo bay.
"Got it!" Anakin yelled back and turned to Ahsoka, who was waiting expectantly.
"Well?" She asked.
Anakin sighed. "Grab your cloak—and you better stick close to me." He muttered.
He could see Ahsoka smirking from the corner of his eye. "I'll be practically glued to your back, Skyguy." She said happily.
•◊•
The plan went wrong the second the team walked out of the ship.
It wasn't just that Ahsoka was in the plans now—no, it was much worse than that.
"Well…we've been expecting you." A deep voice said as the team stood still in their tracks. "Not as clever as you dared to hope, it seems, General Skywalker."
Anakin ignited his light saber and looked up and down his opponent with a critical eye. "And you don't seem as impressive as you dared to hope." He countered.
It was true—the person who had spoken wasn't anything of the frightening caliber that Anakin had seen in the past. For one, he was a young man—perhaps only a couple years older than Anakin himself. He didn't have any frightening features except for the sickly yellow irises that were existent in every Sith's eyes.
The man laughed—a harsh, cruel sound—and smiled coldly. "You speak boldly, General. Let's see if you are as good as all of the rumors say." He said, igniting his own saber.
Anakin smirked. "That's a mistake." He replied. Behind his back, he quietly made gestures that Rex would hopefully catch onto. Maybe his friends would manage to complete the mission as Anakin fights this sleemo.
He turned his head a fraction of an inch to look at Rex—sure enough, his head was giving a small bob. The motion was so subtle that the signal may not have even been real at all, but Anakin would have to hope for the best.
Anakin turned back around began to clash light sabers with his opponent fiercely. For several moments, the only thing that could be heard was the violent impacts of the weapons being collided into each other and heavy breaths.
The duel was intense—much more intense than Anakin would have anticipated and he found himself pressing harder for the upper hand.
Suddenly, he heard the distinct sound of metallic feet marching towards him. Anakin risked to look up for a quick second and felt his heart sink.
Droids.
Of course. During other circumstances, Anakin would have been perfectly fine with a quick skirmish with some tin-heads, but at the moment, he wasn't looking forward to it.
"Master!" He heard Ahsoka cry out.
"Ahsoka—what are you doing?" Anakin managed to ask through the quick thrusts he was pushing at with his saber. "I thought you were joining the others!"
"D'you really think I'd leave you alone?" Ahsoka laughed. "Oh, come on—don't be stupid."
"Ahsoka, get out of here now." Anakin muttered, ducking to avoid a sudden blow that was aimed at his head. He rolled out of the way and he could see Ahsoka. She was holding off as many droids as she could—her light sabers whirring with activity. She looked as casual as any apprentice could possibly look under the pressure of being surrounded, but Anakin could feel her anxiousness through the Force.
And it worried him.
"Ahsoka, now is not the time to play—" Anakin's voice was cut off as he felt the air being knocked out of him from a sudden blow. He winced and stumbled to his feet.
Get up, get up, get up! He thought angrily, spending precious seconds to compose himself.
Anakin heard the sound of gun shots and the sound of a light saber above him. For a moment, he couldn't quite get a grasp of what was going on. Why wasn't his opponent finishing him off? This would be the perfect chance, after all.
Anakin blinked his eyes open several times and then saw it—Ahsoka was lying on her back, her eyes open and her chest heaving with deep breaths.
Anakin stood up quickly and looked around. The droids were still firing and strangely enough, he was completely unscathed. A couple of bruises here and there, but that was probably from the duel he was having before.
He blinked. Where was his opponent, anyways? Where—
Anakin was snapped out of his suspicions when Ahsoka let out a low moan. His eyes widened and he ran forward.
"Ahsoka!" He cried out, grabbing her arms.
The young girl's face was paling, her hands shaking. "Master." She swallowed. "Master…?"
Anakin felt his blood run cold and was suddenly aware of the droids closing in around them. Suddenly, fury was taking over his body and he didn't think about anything else—how can Ahsoka be hurt? Why of all people was she the one getting injured?
He whipped out his light saber and calling upon the Force, he cut down several droids before pushing them all away. Anakin deactivated his light saber and gathered Ahsoka quickly in his arms.
"C'mon, Snips." Anakin muttered and dove towards the jungle. The trees were a good cover—he was able to hide in the dim jungle easily.
Once he was sure that the droids had lost them, Anakin set Ahsoka down on the ground carefully.
The temperature of the planet seemed to have dropped ten degrees when Anakin spotted blood running down from Ahsoka's front.
Anakin swallowed and quickly tugged off his own cloak, looking for a way to at least cover up whatever wound was causing the blood to flow.
"Ahsoka, what did you do?" He murmured quietly under his breath as he ripped off the hem of his cloak.
"It's…not my fault…" Ahsoka replied, her eyes fluttering.
Anakin looked up, stricken. "No, Ahsoka, ignore what I just said—don't answer me, okay?"
"You…stupid…so…stupid." A small giggle gurgled out of Ahsoka's lips. "Didn't pay…attention to…the kriffing…"
Anakin quickly wiped up the blood and found the bullet wound—located right around the rib cage.
"The Force is slowing down the pain." Anakin muttered gratefully. There was still some hope.
"'Course it is…" Ahsoka's speech was slurred.
Anakin stared at Ahsoka and reached over. His hand found her shoulder and he said, "Ahsoka, listen to me. Just this once, listen. Don't talk—it's just going to speed up the process of—"
"Dying." Ahsoka cut off, her eyes closing. "What's it…like to…die, Master?"
Anakin swallowed. "I don't know, Snips. I've never…uh, died before."
"Huh…didn't I die once…Master? In Mortis?" Ahsoka murmured.
Anakin squeezed Ahsoka's shoulder. "You did, Snips. And you're never going to do that again, okay? At least, not now." He said, his voice shaking slightly.
A small smile came across Ahsoka's face and she weakly gripped Anakin's hand.
"Leave me." She mumbled.
Anakin was about to respond when he heard the sound of feet treading the ground behind him. He paused and held his breath, ears straining for whoever the pursuer might be.
"We have to move," Anakin said quietly, gently gathering Ahsoka in his arms.
"Leave…me." Ahsoka repeated, her voice tight with pain.
"Now isn't the time to joke around, Snips." Anakin replied, looking around for a possible hiding spot. He adjusted Ahsoka in his arms and turned around, ready to run when a familiar voice asked, "Are you going somewhere?"
"Rex!" Anakin grinned, turning back around. His smile almost immediately faded when he only spotted the captain standing behind him. "Where are the others?"
"They…didn't make it, sir." Rex replied, shifting slightly on his feet.
Anakin's heart sank. So stupid—he should've gone with them.
"I have the plans." Rex continued, his voice steady.
"Good." Anakin replied and then added, "Ahsoka's severely injured. We have to leave now."
Rex nodded and he turned around, holding up his blasters at the ready.
Anakin took a deep breath and the trio ran through the jungle. He could feel Ahsoka's faint heartbeat and hear her dying breaths as they desperately made their way around the trees.
No, not dying. Don't say dying breaths, she's not dying. She is NOT dying. Anakin thought angrily to himself and pushed through faster.
"General, up ahead!" Rex exclaimed, pointing at the looming figure of the cargo ship a couple of meters away from them.
"I see it!" Anakin replied. He looked down at Ahsoka, whose face was ashen and taut with agony. "Do you hear that, Snips? Only a couple more minutes and you'll get real help—you can stay awake for that long, right?"
"I'll try." Ahsoka whispered, tightening her grip on her master.
Anakin swallowed. Trying wasn't enough—Ahsoka had to stay awake.
It seemed like a lifetime had passed when Rex and Anakin boarded the ship.
"Activate the medical droid and make sure that nothing happens to Ahsoka." Anakin said to Rex, gingerly handing over the girl to him.
Rex nodded. "Of course, sir." He said and Anakin watched him walk off.
The second he was gone, Anakin turned back around and took a deep breath. He couldn't get Ahsoka out of his head—Ahsoka's pained face, the blood dripping down her front, the fact that she took a bullet for him was driving him up the wall.
Anakin wordlessly started up the ship with quick hands—the sooner they got off the planet, the better. Ahsoka would be sent right away to the healer's wing, and everything would be just fine.
•◊•
"She's resting."
"She's resting."
"She's resting."
"She's resting."
Anakin Skywalker never wanted to hear those two words for the rest of his life. He paced around the shared quarters in the Temple, muttering and swearing miserably under his breath over how horrible and delicate the situation was.
Why was it that every time he went to go see Ahsoka, he would be shooed off by a healer?
Was Ahsoka really that badly hurt?
What if she didn't make it?
Anakin froze in his tracks for a second, horrified by the thought, and shook his head.
No. If Ahsoka died, then Anakin would have felt it—he would have known.
Growling in frustration, Anakin flopped on the bed and resisted the urge to throw intimate objects across the room. Instead, he took out his annoyance on his pillow by punching it as hard and as loudly as he could. He didn't get too far.
Not fair, not fair, not fair, not fair…Anakin thought to himself. It wasn't fair that Ahsoka was in the healer's wing, it wasn't fair that Ahsoka took the bullet for him; it wasn't fair that the mission was screwed up, it wasn't fair…
Anakin sat back up in his bed and tugged on his boots. He didn't care if the healers told him to stay out of the wing—he was going to see Ahsoka and wake her up, because that's just what he does.
Well, no. Ahsoka usually wakes Anakin up.
Unless Ahsoka was having a bad day—that was usually when Anakin woke her up.
Today counts as a bad day.
•◊•
"Snips." Anakin hissed, walking quietly into the healer's wing. Surprisingly, the long hall was deserted—there wasn't a single sound except the murmurs of other Jedi walking around the Temple from the other rooms.
"Ahsoka?" Anakin whispered, looking around. The lights were turned down low, but he was able to locate Ahsoka in her bed easily enough.
Anakin walked forward, careful not to alarm any of the healers that might possibly be passing the wing. He managed to make it at Ahsoka's bedside and looked down at her.
For someone who was gravely injured just a couple days ago, Ahsoka looked better than Anakin had thought.
Of course, her skin was still pale and there was still an awful bandage wrapped around Ahsoka's middle, not to mention the various tubes that clung onto her arms, but at least she was alive.
Anakin paused and rubbed his brow.
Never mind—no, he wasn't satisfied with the fact that Ahsoka was alive—what if she was about to die? What if this would be the last time Anakin would ever see her breathing?
She had to be awake.
"Ahsoka?" Anakin asked in a low voice, gently nudging his apprentice. "Ahsoka, I know you can hear me. Don't fake it, please."
You faked it before.
Anakin grinned. He could almost hear Ahsoka's voice whispering in his head. If she could talk, she'd be pestering him about what a hypocrite he was.
"Yes, I know I faked my own sleep before just to freak you out—come on, it was funny, admit it!" Anakin tried for a halfhearted smile and it faltered. "But it's not funny anymore, right? It's not funny at all."
Look at that—you do have a brain.
"I'm not a total idiot; I know how you feel sometimes." Anakin continued, trying to shake Ahsoka's voice out of his head. "Sometimes I do things to you just to bother you, even when I know that you'd probably want to beat me up after."
You finally caught up.
"Does that surprise you? Looks like I'm finally thinking to your standards, huh?" Anakin said. "I'm catching up with your style, Snips."
Ooh, goody.
"Even though I might not like the way you act sometimes," Anakin admitted with a smirk. "You can be a pretty big pain in the butt—like how you went on the mission even when I told you not to."
So?
"It was a very dangerous and foolish thing for you to do, Ahsoka." Anakin said quietly. "And in the end, you got hurt."
You're forgetting something!
"But I'm forgetting something, aren't I?" Anakin smiled meekly. "You saved my life, you did, Snips. I guess I have you to thank for that."
Gee, you think?
Anakin sighed. "Scratch that—I'm more than thankful for what you did back there…that was brave." He closed his eyes. "There, I said it—you were brave, and even though you got hurt, you are…something else. And that's okay—being something else is totally fine with me."
Anakin hesitantly opened his eyes and pressed his lips together at Ahsoka. "Now you have to wake up, because I just complimented you."
Do I have to?
Anakin snorted out loud. "Another reason for you having to wake up is because you're beginning to talk in my head—I can actually hear your voice in my head now, and you can't talk."
Um, about that, Skyguy…I actually am talking to you.
Anakin blinked. "Wait, what?"
Yeah, I'm talking to you…I just—
"Didn't want to say anything out loud at the moment. You were right about one thing—you can be slow." Ahsoka said cheerfully, opening her eyes.
Anakin's mouth dropped open and he yelled angrily, "Ahsoka!"
Ahsoka grinned. "Payback!" She said cheerfully. "I knew you'd fall for it!"
"That wasn't funny!" Anakin shouted. "Why would you even—"
"Nope, you're relieved that I'm alive, aren't you, Master? You are!" Ahsoka said lightly. "Now come on, don't get mad at me."
Anakin groaned and ran a hand through his hair. "Ahsoka…you will be the death of me." He said flatly.
"No, I won't. I just saved it, remember?" The girl smirked.
Anakin rolled his eyes. "Don't ever do that again."
"No promises."
A/N: Possibly one of my longest one-shots ever? Or not...I feel like I've written longer one-shots, but I'm not quite sure. XD UGH, I think I rushed the ending a bit...I was having this humongous fight scene between Anakin and a Sith, (possibly Dukoo? Unclear.) on the ship before Anakin pulled the throttle to head back to Coruscant, but then I got lazy and desprate to finish the story so I wouldn't feel like a procrastinator.
Sorry about that...*sigh, wince, double wince*
Ahsoka: Now that you're done with THAT, go back to sleep. You type loudly.
Me: What? No, I don't.
Ahsoka: Uh, yes you do. Especially when you're typing really fast. Honestly, half of America can hear you.
Me: At least I type FAST.
Ahsoka: It wouldn't hurt for you to be QUIET, now, would it?
Me: *rolls eyes* Quiet is not in my dictionary.
Anakin: OR MINE!
Ahsoka: Makes sense. -_- I'm surrounded by weirdos.
Anakin and me: HEY!
Ahsoka: 'tis true.
Me: *rolls eyes again* Just do the review notice.
Ahsoka: If it means I get my sleep, of course. Please review, give feedback, no hate and stuff.
Me: YAAY! Now, since it's 10:35 pm, I'm not going to post this story just yet...I'm going to wait 'till tomorrow after school...
Ahsoka: Wouldn't the readers be reading that bit AFTER you post this story?
Me: Yeah. So?
Ahsoka: Isn't that...confusing?
Me: Timey wimey, wibbly wobbly. Who cares? XD Bye, everyone!