Hi everybody,
It's me Lily.
Thank you so much for all your reviews, I loved reading them all! And thanks for everybody who is now following or has even favored my story! :D As you're not to many already; I think I can take my time to thank you all: Thanks to BayleeK, vVSnipsVv, ClaptonJr, the anomynous guest, Candace Marie, Dormantness, Gamoora, Archer71 and Ia Aira, you guys rock!
By the way, this is a slight corrected Version, I know I actually already posted Chapter 2.
So, here's the second chapter, and I hope you'll enjoy reading it! It takes place two months later, in the Clone Wars…
2 months later
„Come on, men, let's give these clankers a lesson in manners!" Ahsoka shouted as she was running on the top of her squad to the droids, which were obviously overwhelmed by the trap the troops had set up for them.
Anakin could just hear one of them tell his colleague: "I told you this would be a trap…", before the droid's head was shot off by Rex, who covered Ahsoka's left flank.
"Let's give them the rest!" Leaded by Anakin, his clones were following him in another, hopefully the last attack against the droids on Himy. After a great spacefight the Republic had finally broken through the separatist blockade and had conquered the cities slowly, but constantly. The inhabitants of Himy, the Himilin, had been a slight problem in the beginning, but after a few resistances, they had given up fighting the Republic soldiers, as if they just wanted this whole war to be over.
To conquer Himy had been quiet important, as another great droid factory was placed here. The same factory, Anakin and Ahsoka were facing at the moment.
"Good timing, Ahsoka," he shouted at her as they were meeting in the middle of the field again.
"Well master, I learned from you…"
"Have you set all the charges?" They had made a nearly similar plan to the one Barris and Ahsoka had executed once.
"Yes, but the information data hasn't been transferred from their main computer yet. We can't destroy the factory now."
"You better hurry, or we're all dead…"
"Just 10 more seconds master… 7, 6…"
"Ahsoka, they might find the charges and deactivate them!"
"3, 2, 1, Get down!" Ahsoka screamed and hit the remote button. In an explosion of big and bright fireworks, the factory exploded. The main reactor had been blown up by the explosives Ahsoka had installed so carefully. Luckily, all clone troopers had managed to get down before the shock wave over rolled them.
The droids had less luck. "Oh no…" one of them screamed, before he was flying through the air against the next house wall where he shattered into pieces.
As only the debris of the factory was lying in front of them, Anakin and his troopers got up. He turned to Ahsoka: "Do you know if Fil-Sen made it out before you blew the factory?" Fil-Sen was the Seperatist leader of Himy: He had barricaded himself in the last weeks in his factory. His capture could guarantee that the Himil would give up, maybe even more: With a little bit of luck, Fil-Sen had probably a lot of Seperatist tactics to share in return for better treatment…
"No, master, I haven't seen him. As you know, we had to get out there undetected."
Anakin made a quiet unhappy grimace, but stayed silent. It just would have saved him a lot of time if Ahsoka had told him if this separatist slimo had gotten away or not. Now he had to search for his body under the walls that once had been a factory. "Rex, call the resolute to get us some flyers to clean up this mess."
"Right away, sir."
Then he turned to Ahsoka. "Well done, my young apprentice."
"I'm not that young anymore, Master."
"Well, compared to me, you're young."
"You're just 21 yourself…"
"22."
"You're unbelievable."
Anakin grinned, but then he went serious again. "Do you have the data?"
She looked at the chip on which she had just transferred the information about the Separatist fleet in this sector. "Yeah, got it."
"Send it to Admiral Yularen immediately, we might still be able to use it."
"Yes, Master."
-/-/-
"Three-P-O, where's my new green dress? I'd like to wear it at the peace conference." Senator Amidala was in such a hurry, she nearly run into the droid.
"Oh… I'm so sorry, Milady." The droid came out of the living room into her apartment with small steps.
Padmé smiled. "It's all right Three-P-O. Could you please tell me now where you placed the green dress?"
"I placed it in your wardrobe, my lady, but if you don't mind, I'd say the red one suits your eyes much better, and it also emphasizes your figure much better, so I'd suggest…"
"I see the point in it, but it's important I wear the green one instead of the red one as… as Green is a color for peace."
"Alrigh…"
Suddenly Padmé's stomach seemed to turn around again. "And please, put the white one into the suitcase as well… I'm just going into the bathroom…" With hastily steps, she left the room (and an overwhelmed C3P0), rushed into the bath and threw up over the toilet.
The first time she missed her menstrual period had been two months ago, but she hadn't noticed over Ashoka's trial. And the sickness… well, there had been a food crisis on Coruscant, so she hadn't thought about it…
But as the sickness didn't pass, she finally took the pregnancy test her maid had given her several months ago.
Positive. In the moment it got blue, she didn't know if to worry or to jump cheering through the senate of happiness. She finally had decided to cry, as somehow at once all of her feelings were expressed by that.
How could Anakin and she raise up a child? He was a Jedi – She was a Senator. There was no place in this world for their child.
But wasn't their love all that mattered?
If only there was no war, she'd lie down her office and duties to return to Naboo, or buy a little apartment on the better site of Coruscant, or just to go somewhere nobody knew her. She would build up a child's room and paint its walls in Orange. She would sew a teddy bear, shop baby clothes. She would get her child and take it to a safe home. She'd be a mother.
Ani would live with her… eventually. If the Jedi order weren't forbidding attachments…
What would Anakin say about her pregnancy? Would he want her to keep the child? Or would he prefer an abortion, as long as there was war?
Padmé nearly threw up again… She knew Anakin, if there was any possibility, he would want her to keep the child as well. But this war… It was sick.
How could they still prevent their marriage from the Jedi council? How would the other senators react to her pregnancy? Sure, a lot of senators had gotten children, but would she still be claimed as strong or would they think pregnancy had made her weak?
Nobody knew her husband. It would be a scandal, Senator gets bastard.
How could she even think about her child like this? This was her child, that she already loved like Ani, like her parents, like anything she ever had had…
What ever happened… She had to tell Ani soon. He should not find out by seeing her in some holo with a big belly. It already had started to get slightly rounder, a reason why she had bought the new dresses, as her normal would have showed her growing baby quite well.
But only… How could she tell Anakin? He was in the warzone, somewhere deep in Seperatist space.
"Milady, are you alright?"
Slowly, Padme stood up again and straightened her dress. "Yes, Three-P-O. Let's go."
-/-/-
As Anakin was watching how the wrecks of the factory were brought away, Ahsoka stood beside him and looked around anxiously. Something was wrong, she could feel it.
"What is it, Snips? I feel disturbance in you."
"You feel something else too, Master?"
He looked around irritated. "No, Snips. What's going on?"
"I don't know. Give me a second." Ahsoka left her position and walked over the place where the droids were cleaned up. Her goal was the fountain in the middle.
She didn't know, what the force was trying to tell her, but she could sense a life form watching the clean-up. A life form, which was not a friend of the Republic. She could sense its anger and misery towards the occupation.
But why did it feel so closed, like in shadows. She could barely reach out and look for it more closely, as somehow it was always dragged away in her mind. Like if somebody tried to stop her from looking at the other life form.
"Is something wrong, commander?" Captain Rex had appeared next to Ahsoka out of nowhere. He had probably seen her walking.
"I'm not sure Rex. Somebody or something is watching us, I think." Ahsoka took a close look around. Only houses where surrounding the place, leaning close against each other. Nobody was here. Apparently.
Then, suddenly, out of a twinkle, her eyes caught the pink skin of the Himil. "Over there!" With a second look, she recognized him. "It's Fil-Sen. Rex, cover me."
Anakin turned around just to see his padawan running into an alley of the place. "Ahsoka, just capture him, do not kill him!" He shouted after her, but with a slight grin. Ahsoka could handle the situation best, there was nothing to worry about. A little bit bored and jealous of Ahsoka having all the fun, he continued his boring job as the supervision.
What Padme was doing at the moment? Was she thinking of him? Most likely, she was preparing some kind of political debate.
Lost in thoughts again, he stood on the edge of the ruins for a while without moving. Until he heard the blasters.
His blood froze in his veins. These were too many blasters for a simple capture. Something was happening.
Ahsoka had gotten into trouble.
He had to help her, but Anakin couldn't move. The whole world seemed to stand still, just the sound of blasters was continuing, unreal, unnear.
And then there was the scream. Not a clone troopers scream when he died, or a droid, or a Himil. A young Togruta's scream of pain. And the silence after. A dead silence.
"Ahsoka!" Awoken from his rigid, Anakin turned around and ran to the Alley over two dozen clone troopers behind him. It couldn't be too late…
He could see nothing special about the street he entered at first, but then he saw the broken door of one of the mansions in the street. A clone trooper was lying between the crushed doors, dead. With fear, Anakin opened the damaged portal.
Inside, a blood strain was drawn over the floor, apparently from the man who was now lying dead in the doorway. Anakin lost no time to follow it. He couldn't be too late, he did not have to be too late. Not like he was too late when his mother died… What was he thinking? Ahsoka couldn't be dead. There was no way she could have been dead. She had just stood next to him, laughing and cheering until she had felt something…
Filled with gray about what to find, he rushed into the Yard of the mansion. A mess was spread over the paving stones. Metal of the battle droids was planted in several flowerpots, several of them had been cut with a lightsaber. The Himil leader was lying dead between them next to a fountain. A shot had hit him in the chest. But no sign of his 'Soka.
Just as Anakin was running towards him, he spotted Ashoka's soldiers. They must have searched cover in a colonnade. Most of them were dead, you could see it from the Blaster- and burned wounds. This all had been a trap. A pretty good trap.
Rex and a few of his soldiers who were still alive were standing around Ahsoka. Anakin's heart fell.
His apprentice didn't move, as she was lying on the cold stone. Not even a breath could be seen. Ahsoka… His thoughts stumbled.
The soldiers were apparently still covering her, even though Anakin couldn't sense any danger. Not anymore. He had been too late.
As Anakin was turning around to get to the men, he caught a better sight of Ahsoka. Her right side was covered all in blood. A wound on her shoulder was bleeding fast and strong.
"Ahsoka!" With a few steps he was beside her. As Rex saw him, he put away his blaster and kneeled down to Ashoka. With trembling fingers, Anakin was checking for Ahsoka's pulse, looking for a sign of life, a twitch, a breath, anything. She could not be dead. There was no way... No way…
CLIFFHANGER!
Yes, this is actually torture for you, but I already reveal for you important information: The next chapter is already done and will be posted next Wednesday.
By the way, I will always post this story Wednesday and Saturday, because I have a lot of homework today and can't write something daily.
See you, I can't wait for reviews!
