Hi! So this is really my first story and I would love some feedback. This is the first installement of some one shots I plan to do. They will mainly be focused on Anakin and Ahsoka and troubles they have to deal with from the war. It will not be Anisoka! Rather brother-sister/ friendship stuff. I have some ideas for future chapters, but I also hope to take some ideas from you guys too! Sorry for spelling and formatting mistakes, I was having some trouble with both.
Of course, I own nothing.
Ahsoka dodged the blaster fire, as it came in rapid succession. All of it was just as quickly deflected or dodged by the 15 year old padawan. Sweat had begun pouring down the side of her face and down her back over an hour ago, but she never paused to wipe it away. Breathing heavily, Ahsoka flipped several times to avoid the blasts aimed at her feet. This movement quickly followed by a leap onto a high beam above her head. Unfortunately, this movement put her in the direct path of another one of the bolts, which hit and stung her in the shoulder.
"Aaaghh!" Falling semi-gracefully the ten feet to the floor, Ahsoka hit with a thud. "Blast!" she muttered to herself. Using the force, she turned off the training droids that were still hovering around her. She winced at the pain in her back from the fall. Determining nothing was truly damaged, she made her way over to the side of the training room where she wiped the sweat from her face with a towel. She then chugged the remaining water in her canteen.
After finishing her water, Ahsoka glanced around the training room. This was one of the more popular training areas for knights and padawans, as it contained special training equipment and, with its spacious set up, was ideal for sparring training between masters and their padawans. Except one particular master was nowhere to be found that evening.
Consequentially, Ahsoka had been using several training bots that hovered around the user and shot stung bolts. They were slightly more advanced than the ones the younglings trained with, in that they could be set at higher levels of difficulty and were more mobile. They offered good reflex training.
One half of the room was open floor for sparing; the other side contained half a dozen balance beams of different heights (one of the higher ones of which were responsible for her fall a moment ago). Short platforms were suspended high up along the walls. Those training would often use those beams and platform to leap around the room while sparing; something she was known to do. The Jedi symbol was painted proudly at the center of the far wall.
It had been two weeks since she and Anakin had returned from their last mission. Normally, the Jedi duo would have already been assigned another mission or campaign at this point, but the council decided to, in their words, "give them a break."
When she learned this, Ahsoka had been less than pleased. For her, the break meant long and dull hours of study, as was expected of the padawan, while her master was out carousing Coruscant, doing who knows what. Still, Ahsoka had made up her mind that she would focus on improving her skills as much as possible during this period of dull respite from the war. In other words, she was training. A lot. Agility, reflexes, endurance, strength, and close combat with and without her lightsaber were all areas of focus. Not to mention the usual classes, studies, and assisting in the the youngling classes.
At first her, master had suggested she take things a little easier. "A break like this doesn't come around every day." Besides, they had been swamped with back to back missions for months. None of which had been anything shy of grueling both mentally and physically. Hence, the Council's decision to give them some time off.
Ahsoka however was having none of it. True she was tired from the missions. Beyond tired, actually. The past few days seemed to have brought their own new level of exhaustion for her. The past week she had been having greater trouble sleeping and Anakin had mentioned she seemed to be moving slower when they spared. He tried to convince her to take a day or two off of training, and she said she would think about it. In truth, she only said that to stop his lecture. She feared that if she "took things easy," even for a day, she would fall to pieces and would never be able to pull herself together again. Keeping physically and mentally occupied took her mind away from the hauntings of previous missions and the torturous images and consequences they brought up. Besides, even a moment of training could mean the difference between life and death for her, her master, and men. Therefore, she trained and she trained hard. She figured that if she upped her work outs a bit more she could just work past her exhaustion induced sluggishness. At the very least, she could wear herself out enough to get some decent sleep.
Suddenly realizing that she had been the only one occupying the training room for several hours now, Ahsoka risked glancing at the chrono suspended on the wall. 2 AM. Perfect she thought sarcastically. Collecting her towel, and empty water canteen, the young padawan made the trek back to her and Anakin's shared quarters.
Upon entering, she could sense that her master was not there. This did not come as a surprise since he often disappeared for the night when they were back at the temple, only to magically reappear an hour or two before sunrise. Besides, if he had been present, he would have found her in the training room hours ago and scolded her for the excessive training.
Their shared quarters were standard for Jedi master and padawan teams. It was comprised of a medium sized common room with a small kitchen on the far side. On opposite sides of the common room were two small bedrooms, each of which had a simple but sufficient bathroom.
Ahsoka placed her canteen on the table and made her way to the room on the right. She felt lightheaded, and had to stop in the doorframe for a moment. After a quick shower, she set her chrono for 6 AM like usual. Her first class wasn't until eight, but she wanted to get in a short workout before. Slumping onto her bed, she immediately fell asleep.
Anakin calmly drove his speeder back to the temple after being with his wife for the evening. It was still dark. The sun wouldn't be up for another couple of hours, but he had to be back before his padawan woke up to realize he was missing.
Pulling up to the temple, the Jedi knight allowed his worries to travel back to his padawan. She had been pushing herself these past months. Their missions had been very taxing and he was relieved for both their sakes when they were told they would have a few weeks interval at the temple. While some training was still expected of them, his padawan seemed to be taking that demand a bit too seriously. He had noticed her slowness during the last mission they had. He didn't say anything to her then, knowing it was pure exhaustion and any mention of it to her would have only been dismissed, with maybe a snarky remark thrown in. And after finding out they would have a couple weeks off he had dismissed the small worry he had. Surely it was nothing a few days rest couldn't fix.
Unfortunately this did not prove to be true. Ahsoka seemed more dedicated to her training and studies than ever before since arriving back on Coruscant; attacking them with vigor. He had suggested she dial it down a bit and just enjoy the time off, but she only did the opposite. Anakin recognized it was her way of coping with the past missions. The heartache they had seen. The troops they had lost. He was reluctant to order her to ease up on the training because after all, how many times had he used that very method to cope? And doing so would label him a hypocrite, a fact he knew his oh so observant padawan would not be shy to point out.
He had decided to give her a couple of days to burn things off. But those few days had passed over a week ago. Plus, her movements were becoming more sluggish and stiff, almost as though moving in itself pained her. He tried to subtly comment on her slowness the other day, hoping to encourage her to slow down. He doubted she did and knew that if things kept up he would have to have a talk with her about it. Hypocrisy accusations or not.
Anakin quietly made his way through the temple, into his and Ahsoka's quarters, and then his room. Tugging off his boots, he allowed himself to sleep the last couple of hours before breakfast.
Anakin awoke to bright sunlight streaming through his small bedroom window. Drowsily, he began preparing himself for the day and pulled his boots back on and secured his lightsaber to his waist. Making his way to the common room, he sensed Ahsoka's presence still there. She was normally up before him.
He felt like something was off, but he couldn't put his finger on what precisely. Nothing alarming exactly, like the warning the force sent seconds before a bomb was about to go off, or when a blaster bolt was coming straight at his head.
He glanced at the chrono to check the time. It read 7:33 AM. He was glad to see that Ahsoka was sleeping in for once, but knew that if she didn't get up now she would be late for her history of the outer rim class.
Making his way to knock on her door, he thought he could faintly hear an alarm going off. Deciding it had just gone off and Ahsoka would be out and rushing to class in another minute or two, Anakin made his way back to the kitchen to make some caf.
Five minutes and a persistent beep beep beep later, Anakin was back at his apprentice's door and knocked twice. "Hey Snips! You going to get up soon or just let your alarm wear itself out?" He was met with no answer. Frowning, he opened to door.
Ahsoka lay there undisturbed in bed, sleeping soundly. This sight actually caused Anakin's frown to deepen. She was never one to sleep through an alarm. Heck, the sound of a fly landing on the wall could usually wake up the painfully light sleeper, and she was almost always awake a few minutes before her alarm anyways.
"Snips?" Anakin gently nudged her shoulder. "Snips? Ahsoka?" No movement. Ok now he was worried. He could feel her in the force and saw the rise and fall of her chest as she breathed, so he knew she was alive. Still something was seriously wrong for her to still not be awake. Picking up her wrist to check her pulse, Anakin was met with an unsteady though clearly present heartbeat. It seemed to be going too fast for someone still asleep, especially someone so physically fit.
After shaking her shoulder harder once more, she finally began stir. "Whaa?" she looked at him with half opened bleary eyes. Anakin gave a short huff of relief. "Ahsoka, are you feeling ok?" He felt her forehead as her eyes seemed to become a bit more focused.
"Mm… master?" Her troubled speech quickly revealed a form of panic, as did her eyes. Barely able to raise her head she cried, "Master! I can't move! I can't move!"
Okay so something was definitely wrong. Trying to hide his own heightened panic, he told her, "It's okay. It will be okay. We are going to have the healers take a look at you alright?"
Anakin quickly scooped her up, and headed straight for the Temple's Hall of Healing at a fast walk.
Anakin nervously paced just outside the exam are that was currently occupied with his padawan and a couple of the Jedi healers and medical droids. After he had carried her in, he had been bombarded with a series of questions. "Had she been displaying any strange symptoms? What and when had she last eaten? Could she have by any chance been exposed to any sort of toxins?"
After being kicked out of the room so the healers could run some tests on Ahsoka, the Jedi knight had resorted to pacing back and forth by the door. He tried to wrack his brain for any new bits of information that could possibly be of use in determining the cause for his padawan's current state.
After a while, the doors finally opened with a swoosh and one of the healers, Jedi master Jy, a middle aged Rhodian, walked out. Jy was known for being serious and for her lack of tolerance for anything that made her job harder. Immediately Anakin spun around towards her, but Jy held up her hand to hold off his questions. "Your padawan will be just fine. It would appear her state is due to severe physical burnout."
Anakin released a breath of relief. "So what's next?"
"We gave her something to help her sleep. Right now sleep is the best thing for her. We are also currently administering different electrolytes to aid in her recovery. She will have to stay here for least another day or two to make sure she improves and that the treatments we are administering take effect. I must ask, how long has she been showing symptoms of exhaustion?"
Anakin tried to ignore the slight accusatory tone that laced Master Jy's voice. "We've had a rough last couple of missions and she's been pushing herself pretty hard in training. I didn't know it was as bad as this."
Jy nodded her head. "Well her body is going to need lots of rest and some time off in order to recuperate. And I will be holding you in charge of making sure that she gets that rest."
"Easier said than done," Anakin muttered under his breath.
Either not hearing or choosing to ignore him, Jy continued. "After a couple of weeks she may start to ease back into some light training and slowly work back up from there. But until then make sure she does not engage in any sort of strenuous activity. Am I clear?"
"Of course Master."
"Good. You may go and see her now if you wish, but as I said, she is sleeping. If you wake her, you answer to me."
After a quick thanks, Anakin walked past Jy and to Ahsoka's bedside. She was under a thin blanket and wearing standard patient clothes. Both of her arms were hooked to multiple IVs. She was breathing steadily as she slept.
Sitting down in a nearby chair, Anakin sighed in defeat. Running a hand through his hair, he looked away from his padawan's sleeping form to stare at the floor. How had he allowed things to get this bad? Ahsoka was his responsibility. His padawan. He should have been more concerned about the warning signs she had shown in the past few weeks. Bringing his eyes back up to her sleeping form once more, he knew he would have to find a way to get her to cooperate and rest the next couple of weeks like Master Jy had instructed. Preferably a way that didn't involve physically tying her to her bed.
Ahsoka slowly opened her eyes, blinking to get them to focus. "Hey Snips," came her master's voice. "About time you woke up." She recognized the slight guilt to his voice and his smile that was only half-hearted. Oh great. The healers she thought as she put two and two together, between Anakin's façade and the white walls she took into observation.
"How long was I out?" she asked.
"Well, in another 20 minutes, it would have been a solid 14 hours. I do believe that is a new record on your part." He grinned teasingly, which was shortly replaced by a frown. "Ahsoka, do you remember what happened?" She thought back, and her still groggy mind recalled to earlier that day.
She had woken up to Anakin shaking her shoulder (how did she not hear him come in to her room?). When she had tried to rise, she was unable to lift anything other than her head. Even that had been a struggle. At first she thought something was holding her down. When she realized nothing was there, and that she couldn't even move her arms or legs, she was flooded with confusion and panic. Her thoughts had felt jumbled and it was all she could do to call out to her Master.
"I woke up and couldn't move. You said you were going to take me to the healers," she answered.
"That's right. I spoke to Master Jy. Ahsoka…" Anakin sat back down before continuing. "She said you have a very severe case of burn out. How hard exactly have you been training lately outside of our normal sessions?"
"Pretty hard," she admitted guiltily. "Master, I wasn't trying to over-do it. It's just that it's the only way I know to keep myself going sometimes." Anakin's eyes softened.
"I understand Snips. Trust me. Sometimes you feel so overdone, you think that if you stop you won't be able to get going again huh?"
"Yeah," came the soft reply.
"But Ahsoka," his voice remained soft but became slightly more stern. "I have also learned that pushing yourself too far like you've been doing, will only cause more damage in the long run. I know our missions have been tough, especially with this war." Ahsoka knew he wasn't just referring to the physical demands, but more to the emotional ones. "Seeing so much pain, having so much expected of you, it's hard stuff. And that is why I am here. As your master, I am here to help you through it. I just need you to be honest with me and to not be afraid to tell me when you're not alright. Do you understand?"
Ahsoka took a deep breath and sighed. Looking down, she replied, "yes Master."
"Good," Anakin grinned, straightening up. "Because I am pretty sure Master Jy will personally take my head off if you overwork yourself again. Every few hours, when she has been coming to check on you, I have been getting some major stink eye from her." Ahsoka couldn't help but chuckle at this.
She was NOT pleased when Anakin informed her that she would practically be on bed rest for the next week or two, but her displeasure was somewhat relieved when Anakin mentioned he had just spoken to Padme a couple of hours ago. It turned out she was getting ready to visit her family on Naboo, and her and Anakin had arranged for them to accompany her for a couple of weeks. Although lazing around on any planet was less than desirable for Ahsoka, it was undeniably preferable to do so in a peaceful place like Naboo rather than the dull grey walls of her living quarters.
Smiling, Ahsoka agreed to Anakin and Padme's plans. As she began to slowly drift off again, she was grateful to just feel safe with her master at her side.
