POV: Ahsoka Tano

A whole week had gone by and Anakin was still, miraculously, alive. He'd accepted the proposal after a bit of reluctance. I had him see it my way and I drew him in. He promised me that, if he lived long enough, he'd propose to me properly. I went out and bought us both rings. I wanted him bound to me whether it was official or not. I considered Anakin my husband already even though he said we were just engaged. Being his fiancé wasn't enough for me, honestly. I loved him to death and I didn't want him to die not knowing that.

He looked like he was getting better, but that happened before, too. He had his bad days, his good days, and his really bad days. I'd, technically, lost him three times already in the last month. I told him I wanted him to get checked by a droid other than Threepio and he fought me on it. Of course, we'd kept it quiet so we wouldn't worry Ky, but we still fought.

He did give into me this morning and indulged my wishes for him to go to a proper medical facility. He also answered Obi-Wan's transmission finally and was requested to return to Coruscant immediately. It was a big decision for him to make. He wouldn't leave me here alone with his son right now and he didn't want to bring Kylar to Coruscant where he could risk everything upon people discovering he had a son.

I came out of the refresher to find Anakin waiting for me on the couch. We'd just fought this morning about him going to a medical facility and it ended pretty badly. I imagined he felt as bad as I did. I watched him carefully and walked over to him slowly. His hand was clenching the arm of the couch and his shoulders look tense. I stopped moving and breathing, closing my eyes. I hadn't even heard him move, but I felt his lips press against mine gently. I opened my eyes and looked up at him as he lifted my chin with his thumb. "I'm sorry," he whispered. He looked into my eyes sincerely and I believed him. "I said things I don't mean and I love you, Ahsoka."

I smiled at him. "I'm sorry for the things I said to you, baby. You didn't –"

He interrupted me, chuckling as he rubbed my chin with his thumb. "Sometimes I need a good kick in the ass, Soka." I hugged him gently and he held my head against him, rubbing my montrals. "Thank you, Ahsoka, for not giving up on me. I'm sorry for being so aggressive with you lately. I do love you."

"I love you, too, Anakin." I held his sides, rubbing them before squeezing gently. I pulled away and looked up at his face to see the beautiful smile I'd been missing for the last few days. "Sweetheart, what are you going to do about the Council?"

His smile faltered and I immediately regretted bringing it up to him. I loved his smile and now I'd killed it once again. He lifted his eyes back to mine and rubbed his thumb across my cheekbone. "I'm going back with Kylar," he whispered. "I'll tell them he's mine and that I'm spending my last days with him, Ahsoka. I don't care what they do. They can banish me. I'm dying anyway." His eyes grew dull as he nonchalantly looked at me. "It won't matter anymore."

"Anakin –" Kylar's tiny footsteps distracted us both. He spun around and I faced the young boy. We both looked down at him and saw how sad he looked. Anakin, being the only father I knew with as quick a reaction as he had, was knelt in front of him in a flash, brushing his hair back.

He kissed Ky's forehead and held his shoulder with one hand. "What's wrong, kiddo?"

"Are you leaving me again, daddy?" he asked his father, tears forming in his eyes. I felt Anakin's sorrow like an explosion.

He tried to play it off though. He liked to pretend he didn't matter, that his feelings and thoughts didn't matter to anyone. He thought he wasn't important because he was 'on his deathbed.' The poor man didn't realize that he had his son and me to love him to death. "No, baby."

"Then where are you going?"

"Daddy's going to take you to where he runs off to all the time. I want you to come with me and Ahsoka. Is that okay with you?" I knew he wasn't really giving Kylar the option of saying no. He just wanted to know is all. Anakin was determined to take Ky with us back to Coruscant and, once his mind was set, that was pretty much the end of the conversation. He couldn't be debated.

Ky nodded and Anakin smiled. He told Ky to go pack up some clothes and toys in one of his packs. Ky ran into Anakin's room and grabbed the pack, taking it into his own room to begin putting his belongings inside of it. I watched Anakin as he spun back to face me, moving quickly, taking my hand. I stared into his eyes and I saw what he wanted.

I took the initiative and led him into his room. I pulled him in and closed the door, locking it. He didn't want sex right now. He just wanted to be alone with me. He didn't want Kylar to see him for whatever his reasoning was and I assumed it was important. He gripped my hands tightly and kissed my knuckles. "What's wrong, Ani?"

His eyes grew sadder. "I want you to promise me something." Already, I knew this wasn't good. The way he looked, the way his voice sounded, it was going to be another depressing statement about his pending death. He released my hands and held the sides of my face. "If you still love me after I'm gone, promise me you'll never let another man love my son. I'm his father. I don't want him to have another father."

I rubbed his chest and smiled through teary eyes. "He'll never have another daddy, Ani. You're his daddy. No one can take that from you. No one can replace you." I pressed my head against his chest and his arms wound around me. "You're his father, Anakin. You brought him into this world. He'll never forget that."

He started sobbing, his face pressed against my montrals. I could feel the inner torment he was facing. He was trying to keep it in, trying to stop it from being obvious to me. I wrapped my arms around him and clutched the back of his shirt. "I don't want to die," he whispered.

He held me tightly and I returned the amount of firmness. "I won't stop trying to find a way to save you, Anakin."

"It's hopeless," he said, his voice full of hopelessness. He had given up a while ago on thinking he'd make it. He felt like he was being punished for something he'd done wrong because he had survived this long. Ky started banging on the door and Anakin jumped against me, startled. He pulled away from me and held my shoulders, staring into my eyes sorrowfully. "Do you promise to never make him see another man as a father?" he whispered.

I lifted my hand to stroke his hair out of his face. "I promise. There will never be another man in my life but you and Ky. I will take care of him, Anakin. I won't let him forget you. He'll keep your legacy alive."

He wiped his raw, tear-filled eyes and nodded, silently thanking me though he couldn't speak at this particular moment. I was afraid that he'd begin crying once again. I knew he was hurting. I wouldn't deny him that. I just didn't like to watch him hurt. I didn't like how powerless I was. I was meant to make him happy and he was miserable… "I'm going to clean my face off. Can you let him in?"

I nodded as he went towards the refresher in his bedroom. I opened the door for Ky and he came in, excited as can be. He looked around for Anakin and his smile died when he didn't find his father. "Where's daddy?"

"He's in the refresher. He'll be out in a minute, Ky."

"Soka?" He looked up at me and I knew this wouldn't be good either. Anakin's son was too smart for his own good. I raised my eye marking in question, and he continued. "Is my daddy going to get in trouble when we go wherever he's taking us?"

I shrugged and knelt in front of him. "I don't know, Ky. I don't think daddy cares if he gets in trouble at this point. He wants things to be better for the two of you, for you mainly. He loves you a lot, Ky. Don't ever forget that, okay?" I brushed his hair back and he smiled. "Daddy loves you a lot more than you realize."

Ky hugged me and I felt like a good person. Even with Anakin struggling to survive every day, Ky still managed to be a happy, little boy. He knew something was wrong with his daddy, but he just assumed it was an illness because Anakin told him that so many times.

Ky pulled away when the refresher door opened and Ani stepped out of it. The younger boy was staring at his father, smiling widely. I could feel Anakin's heart breaking without even looking at him. He came over to us and held his arms out for Ky to jump into. He held Kylar in his arms and I went to grab all of our packs.

Anakin stood on the veranda, talking to Kylar in his arms. I could hear him and he was giving a speech that was meant to sound like he just wanted Kylar to know he cared, but I knew it was about him fearing that he wouldn't make it once we got to Coruscant. "Daddy will always watch over you, baby," he whispered. "You'll never be alone. I will always be right beside you."

"You say that a lot, daddy." I saw the way Kylar looked up at Anakin and he knew. It was impossible to say how he knew, but he did. I could tell by the way he moved his hand around his father's wound. He wasn't touching the one part that would hurt Anakin the most. "I'll never forget my daddy."

I could just feel Anakin's waterworks wanting to explode again, so I stepped closer to them and rubbed his back. He glanced over his shoulder at me and smiled, his eyes watery. He carried Kylar towards a small fighter that he'd changed to suit his family needs and set him down in the back, strapping him in. He took the packs from me and set them in beside Ky. I liked how Anakin had modified this fighter. Normally, it was meant for one person. He'd managed to make it available to three. He straightened up and stared directly into my eyes. He slid his thumb over my cheekbone and smiled. "I love you," he whispered, his voice strained.

I pulled his face closer to mine and pressed my lips against his, moving them at a slow pace. We parted a few moments later and I smiled. "I love you, Ani."

I rested my hand on a good part of his chest and he moved it above his heart, where his wound was. I could feel his heart pounding and his smile grew wider. He got in my head and whispered, "Even though I'm dying, this is what you do to my heart, Ahsoka." I smiled at him and his face just lit up in that moment. "You'll always be my Snips…"

He always gave me warm feelings when he called me that. It was a cute nickname that he'd given me shortly after meeting me at the beginning of the Clone War. I giggled and took his hand in mine and lifted it to my face, kissing his knuckles. I lifted my eyes to meet his and fell even more in love with him at the sight of his happiness despite the hell he was going through from day to day. "You'll always be my Skyguy."