Here you go guys! As promised, chapter 2 is up! I think I will stick with a weekly update. If I fall behind I'll let you know. I had a bit of writer's block with this chapter but next chapter (which I have already started) is going to rock! So I hope you enjoy guys and please review!
Obi-wan stood up from where he knelt beside Ahsoka, giving her one last glance before turning to Anakin. "Anakin, I know you're worried about her, but we must focus on the bigger picture here, we need to…"
"The bigger picture! Obi-wan, you said it yourself, she has life threatening injuries! I'm not doing anything until I know she's safe."
Obi-wan gave a tired sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Anakin, we are stranded here; some of our crew is injured or still trapped in the ship. We need to make a plan, and figure out a way off this planet." Anakin was about to interrupt, but Obi-wan silenced him with a wave of his hand. "Anakin, the best way to help Ahsoka is to contact the Jedi Council and have them send another ship with the proper medical supplies; we don't have the equipment to care for her, what we did have was either destroyed in the crash or is scatted in the ship." Obi-wan said with compassion as he knelt down and put his hand on Anakin's shoulder. "I promise you Anakin, if she's in any pain I'll help her but she's unconscious right now and is resting peacefully. I'll have one of the clones keep an eye on her, but I need you to come with me and see if we can fix the communications on the ship so we can reach the Council."
Anakin looked up at Obi-wan with sad eyes, torn between wanting to stay with his Padwan and doing his job as a General. "Okay," He said giving a sigh, "you're right, the best thing to do is to try and reach the Council." Reluctantly, Anakin removed his arm from behind Ahsoka's back and stood up, making his way to the nearest clone. "You!" He said pointing at the clone. "I need you to keep an eye on Ahsoka, let Obi-wan and I know if there is any change in her condition, you understand?"
"Sir yes sir!" The clone saluted and made his way to where Ahsoka was still lying against the boulder.
Obi-wan came to stand beside Anakin and put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, she'll be fine."
"I know…come on, let's go back to the bridge and see if I can get the communications back up."
"Actually Anakin, I'm going to stay out here and organize a group to explore the area." At Anakin's confused look Obi-wan continued, "If we're going to be here a while, we're going to need food and shelter and I'm sorry but sitting out the middle of the meadow isn't that great of a camping spot." Obi-wan smirked at Anakin as Anakin let out a small chuckle.
"Right, sorry. In my concern I didn't really think about setting up a proper camp."
"That's quite alright, you go on and head inside, I'm going to get started out here."
Giving another small smile, Anakin headed inside the ship, while Obi-wan turned to look for Commander Cody, who he saw by a circle of tree logs, the men had set up as benches, talking to some of his men.
"Commander Cody," Obi-wan greeted as he approached him.
"Yes General."
"How are your men?"
"A little banged up, but nothing to severe, it's the ones still trapped in the ship I'm more worried about sir."
Obi-wan started to stroke his beard and nod. "I understand your concern. I have asked Rex to send some of his men to search for survivors. In the mean time I was hoping I could borrow you and some of your men."
"Of course sir, we'd be happy to help."
"Good," Obi-wan gave a small smile. "I would like some of your men to search through the broken debris from our ship and so we can make a temporary shelter while you and the rest of us search the surrounding area. I don't think the Separatists are just going to leave without making sure we're dead and I don't want them getting the drop on us. We'll split into two groups, you lead three of your men to find a more defendable place to rest and I'll lead the other three to search for anyone in the surrounding area, hopefully we only run into natives or wildlife."
"Aye sir, I agree." Cody nodded then turned to face his men. "Alright lads, listen up. Here's the plan. Loudmouth, Skipper, and Swift, you three stay here and search the wreckage of the ship to see if we can make a shelter from it. As for Echo, Shadow, and Sharpshot, you three are with Obi-wan and I, we're going to search the area. Everyone understand?"
"Sir yes sir!"
"Alright men," Obi-wan said approaching them. "Let's get started."
As Commander Cody started to lead the way into the forest, Obi-wan lifted up his hand and activated his communicator. "Anakin, we're heading out. Let me know if you reach the Council or if you run into any trouble."
"…Will do Master…Same goes for you…" Obi-wan gave a slight smile and continued on after Commander Cody and his men.
As they entered the forest Obi-wan surveyed the area. The trees were tall, thick and vines littered the area, hanging from almost every tree and covered the forest floor. Well this will be an interesting walk. He thought as he and the clones climbed there way over more vines.
"Any idea where we should go sir." Commander Cody asked falling back to walk side by side with Obi-wan.
"Well we shouldn't stray too far away from the ship. We'll keep walking forward for another 10 minutes then turn around and start to make a circle around the meadow we crashed in. I just want to make sure there are no surprises waiting for us in this forest."
"Aye sir, I agree." With a nod, both Cody and Obi-wan continued to follow their men into the woods.
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As Anakin stepped onto the bridge, he took a look around to survey the ship. All the control panels looked fried, with sparks flying out of them and wires hangout. Anakin let out a frustrated sigh. It couldn't just look bad on the outside; it had to look worse on the inside. Well best get started. Anakin made his way to the front of the bridge and ducked underneath the communications panel. As he opened it up he cringed; the wires looked fried, some of them had been ripped out of their sockets. Letting out another sigh, Anakin set to work.
After sometime, Anakin got out from under the panel and reached with his mechanical hand to activate the holo projector. He cringed and sighed in frustration when sparks flew out from the device and smoke started to fill the air.
"Well sir, I'd say it's safe to say you're having no luck getting the communications up." Anakin smiled as he heard Rex's voice sound from behind him.
"Ha, you're right about that." Anakin said turning to face Rex while running a hand through his hair. "It'll take some time, but I'm confident I'll be able to get it up and running…eventually." He said whispering the last part. "So how are your men doing? Obi-wan told me he had you and you're men search the ship for any survivors."
"Not good sir." Rex sighed as he took off his helmet. "Most of the men were injured in the crash and are resting outside. The others are trapped behind debris and we're still working on getting them out."
"But no one has been killed?"
"No sir, not that we know of yet, but we're still searching."
"That's good Rex, thanks for the update. You should head back and help your men. I might be here a while."
"Yes sir and good luck."
Anakin gave a small smile, "Thanks Rex, you as well." Rex nodded back then headed off back into the main areas of the ship. Anakin sighed as he turned to face the holo projector again. Just as he was about to kneel down to try and fix it again, he felt a disturbance in the force. Ahsoka! In a rush Anakin ran out of the bridge and out of the ship. As he got outside he saw Ahsoka kneeling on the ground, clutching her stomach and her eyes shut in pain.
"Ahsoka!" He called out starting to run towards her.
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Pain slowly returned as Ahsoka felt herself return to consciousness. She could hear people walking and talking around her and as she became more aware she realized Anakin was no longer beside her. Growing anxious, Ahsoka squirmed and tried to open her eyes, but pain instantly shot through her abdomen and she let out a pain filled moan. Suddenly she felt someone put a hand on her shoulder.
"Sir are you alright?"
Ahsoka couldn't think properly, her mind was filled with pain, and at the sound and touch of the unfamiliar person, she snapped her eyes open and pushed him away with the force.
"Whoa!" The strange man called out as he was sent flying. After he picked himself back up, Ahsoka watched him warily through blurry eyes as he cautiously made his way back over to her. "It's alright Commander, I'm not going to hurt you. You're safe with us, General Skywalker and Captain Rex are just inside fixing the communications, if you want I can go get them."
Realization dawned on Ahsoka as her eye sight cleared and she looked up at the clone trooper standing over her. "N…nn…oo…no, Th…att…ss…al..right…trooper…" She spoke through pain clenched teeth. "I'm…mm…ss…orry…I pushed you…" Ahsoka closed her eyes, and called upon the force to help ease the pain running through her body. After a moment she felt her body relax and she opened her eyes. "Please help me up trooper. I need to speak with Anakin, and see where he needs help."
"I'm sorry sir, but I don't think that is a good idea. You were seriously hurt and…"
"I don't care!" Ahsoka hissed in frustration. "Anakin needs my help and there's no way I'm going to let him see me like this. I have rested enough for now and I'll only rest more once we get off this planet. Now I'm not going to ask again, help me up and take me to Anakin."
"Alright sir," The clone gave a reluctant sigh. "But I don't think this is a good idea."
Ahsoka rolled her eyes, "Just hurry up, and be careful."
The clone nodded in understanding and slowly put his arm around her back, lifting her up by the shoulders. Once she was standing, Ahsoka wobbled on her feet and cringed as she felt more pain go through her abdomen but she quickly quelled it with the force and nodded at the trooper. "Thank you for helping me up, but I am perfectly capable of walking on my own. Just…stay behind me in case I…stumble…" She said with a small smile.
"You mean fall," The clone gave a light chuckle. "You look like you're about to fall over. I really think you should rest and let me get General Skywalker."
Ahsoka let out a frustrated sigh. "I'm fine trooper, now follow me." Determination flowed through Ahsoka as she took her first step, but as soon as moved pain shot through her again. She let out a cry as she fell back down to the ground.
"Ahsoka!" Ahsoka's head snapped up as she heard the familiar voice. Oh great…just as I was trying to prove I was fine. "Ahsoka, what are you doing?" Anakin raised his voice in panic as he knelt beside her, putting his arm around her back. "Trooper I thought I told you to come find me if anything happens! Not bring her to me!" Ahsoka could feel Anakin's anger start to rise as he spoke with the clone.
"I…I…I'm sorry sir, she insisted and…"
"And you listened?!"
"Anakin, he's right I thought I was…"
"You what? You thought you were fine." Ahsoka could feel Anakin's concern for her roll off him in waves. She looked up at him as he held her in his arms, and she instantly felt useless, trapped and weak.
"Yes Anakin I am fine! I was perfectly capable of walking over to you." She said as her anger rose as well.
"No you're not Ahsoka! Look at yourself, you can barely walk. I knew I shouldn't have left your side!"
"I am not a youngling anymore Anakin! I can take care of myself!" To prove her point, Ahsoka pulled herself out of Anakin's grasp and tried to stand up but another shot of pain went through her and she collapsed back to the ground.
"See, that proves my point! If you really did take care of yourself, you'd listen to your body and not move." Anakin let out a frustrated sigh, "Look Snips, there is a difference between trying to prove you are okay and being okay. You don't have to prove anything, just sit still and rest." Anakin gave a small reassuring small, while placing his hand on Ahsoka's shoulder.
Ahsoka started to let out some tears, whether it was from the pain, or what had been said, maybe both, Anakin couldn't tell as she slowly looked up at him. "And what about you Skyguy? You're always trying to show everybody you're okay, but you're always so concerned about everybody else's well-being you don't take care of your-self; and then there's the Jedi Council. They always want us to be perfect, to be emotionless, too not care if someone we love is hurt or dies." Ahsoka started to let out a small sob. "The reason why I kept trying to get up was because I knew I wasn't the only one who was hurt in the crash, and I hate sitting here like I'm useless! I need to help people; I don't want them wasting their resources on me when there are others who need it more." Ahsoka sniffled as she leaned up from the ground and wrapped her arms around Anakin.
"Shhh…it's okay snips…and you're right. I guess I don't set a good example when it comes to taking care of your-self." Anakin whispered gently as he patted Ahsoka on the back in reassurance. "You know, a wise Jedi once told me it's always better to look at the bigger picture; to not think of only your-self but also others. I know you want to help but did you think that maybe by trying to help us you were only slowing us down." Anakin felt Ahsoka tense at his words. "I don't mean that you intentionally meant to get in our way but while you were resting, everyone had a job to help get us off this planet faster and when you tried to prove you were healed enough to help but ended up collapsing, everyone had stopped what they were doing to make sure you were okay. They may not have done anything, but they were watching. I know I don't have Obi-wan's way with words, but do you understand what I am saying snips? Sometimes you need to step back and let others help when you aren't able to and there's nothing weak about allowing others to help; it only makes you stronger."
Anakin gave a small smile as he felt Ahsoka relax her grip on him and sat back, holding her arm around her stomach.
"Thanks Anakin," She said sniffling and wiping her nose with her other arm. "It's hard for me to just sit back and do nothing, but I know now that I wouldn't be of any use." She gave a yawn that turned into a grimace as she shifted the wrong way. "I think I'll lie down for a bit, just wake me if anything happens."
"I Promise," Anakin gave her his signature smirk.
"Okay good…and Anakin…thanks." Ahsoka smiled fondly at Anakin as she gently laid herself down on the soft meadow grass. Closing her eyes, she used the force to ease the pain in her abdomen and fell into a peaceful sleep.
"Sleep well Ahsoka…we all want you to get better as fast as possible." Anakin whispered as he placed his hand on her shoulder one last time before standing back up and making his way back to the ship; leaving the clone trooper to continue to look after his padwan.