A.N.

Sorry this took long, life's been keeping me busy.

Enjoy!

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Chapter7 – Old Stains

The Clone base on Toledo was a smoky fizz of shattered buildings and broken armor. The skinny haze of a battle droid appeared through the thick gas and stood in the thick mud over the body of a fallen clone captain, identifiable by the Aurabesh letters on the side of his helmet, which read 'REX'.

Commander Unit 632 kicked the clone then turned to face another approaching droid, "Yes sergeant, what is it?"

The droid responded with a slightly sharper voice, "We're done scanning the area. All the clones are dead, sir."

"Good work, sergeant!" the droid glanced back down at the fallen captain, "The general will be pleased when he sees his experiment was a success."

The two droids then turned to find a grayish green Rodian with a wide flat forehead fixed in a frown and a big flat snout that made him look more like a duck than a regular Rodian. He was dressed in a dark brown trench coat, treading over dead clones and droids, cursing at the horrid smell and the ugliness of the mess around him.

The droid commander walked over to his side and saluted, "General, your experiment was a success!"

The Rodian stopped and glared at the droid, "I know that- you think I don't know that?"

"Oh." The droid sulked.

"Stupid droid." He carried on through the thick mud while the droid followed until they reached the remains of the command center where the sergeant waited, "You sure there are no survivors?"

The commander replied, "No sir."

"That's not true!" The sergeant interrupted.

The commander swung his arms and snapped, "I thought you said there weren't any!"

"I only said the clones were dead, but there was a survivor. Here he comes now." The droid pointed to an approaching group- two droids hauling an exhausted man wearing a breathing mask and burnt Jedi robes. The Rodian general held his head and pulled the pulled the mask off, "Oh, it's you. I was hoping I finally had General Skywalker."

Forn coughed and frowned at the Rodian, "General Darjeeling…you lied! I thought you said this mask would protect me."

"It did- you're still breathing, aren't you?" The general gestured at the droids, who in turn dropped Forn as he winced in pain and then glared at the Rodian with disgust, but he simply turned around, picked up a Kluurf flower and inspected it half heartidly, "Did the tea do the job?"

"Yes, my padawan is dead." Forn muttered, scanning his surroundings and watching the droids patrol the area, "Skywalker didn't suspect a thing, he went after his own Padawan thinking she was responsible," he scoffed, "Even she thinks so."

"Of course she does, you fool. I told you it would work, didn't I?" Darjeeling offered him a grin then stood over him skeptically, "So why are you still here?"

Forn stood up rather clumsily, "I can't follow the Jedi- they'd suspect me! They'd all know I'm hiding something in the Force."

"Not so powerful, are we?" Darjeeling mocked.

"Some teachings are forbidden for Jedi, general."

Darjeeling dropped the plant and began marching back to his ship, "Oh whatever, I'm not here to listen to your bickering- just tell me what you want."

Forn limped up beside him, "I want a council with Count Dooku."

The Rodian stopped for a moment and eyed him curiously, "You are a nut case, aren't you?"

Forn hesitated to speak, but then ran back over to the Rodian's side, "Sir, I'm being serious here."

"Forn, you don't just go up to Lord Dooku and ask him for a chat over some tea. The only person I've known who's ever seen him was General Durd and he was extremely lucky to speak with him over comlink! I sure miss that poor fat fellow."

"General, I helped you get rid of Skywalker, now you have to help me."

"I helped you with your Padawan problem didn't I?"

"Yes- but that was insurance. General, please!"

Darjeeling sighed and stopped. He turned to face the Jedi and realized that perhaps he might gain something from this. Not every general in the Separatist Army has had an opportunity to give the Jedi a taste of their own medicine, and perhaps he could finally prove himself a worthy asset to Lord Dooku after all, "Alright, listen- I've nearly completed my research on a new weapon. Dooku will want to inspect this one- so you might stand a good chance at meeting him. But I won't guarantee it!"

"That's all I ask." Forn bowed, but Jerandeel began walking before he raised his head, "You never told me Jedi- why did you want your Padawan dead anyway?"

Forn frowned at the memory, "Old stains, general. Old stains."

The Rodian turned around to see the Jedi walk away then scoffed as he boarded his ship, "Pathetic fool."

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Sat on the cold floor with her legs crossed, Ahsoka went over her last encounter with Anakin over and over again- his words echoed in her mind and tormented her all while she cried. First she mourned the death of Rex- the only man other than Anakin she felt would survive this terrible war. Then she cried at the possibility of losing the chance at becoming a Knight, something she's always dreamed of. And finally, she cried till there were no tears left- she cried at losing her friendship with Anakin. A hero in her eyes since her training as a youngling- she studied everything about him in the archives, from his rise as a legendary starfighter pilot during the Battle of Naboo up to his knighthood.

It was her lifelong passion to be his Padawan, but now…now she became his biggest disappointment.

The doors slid open and she winced when Anakin walked in, but rather than fear she felt resolve building up inside her, a willingness to speak out this time and voice herself.

"Ahsoka, listen to me," He sighed, "I was…"

"No, you listen to me, Anakin!" She stood and yelled at the top of her voice, "You're supposed to be my master! You're supposed to teach me everything I need to know, but you don't! All you ever do is care about winning battles and achieving challenges! Do you really think its easy being your Padawan? Well, it's not!"

She breathed heavily, trying to calm herself, remembering her Jedi teachings, Anakin gestured to the clone behind him, who nodded and left the cell, she then continued, "You get ignored all the time and everyone expects the best from you. There are never friends around when you need them because you travel so much- and then you realize all you have is a teacher who doesn't do his job to help you reach your goal. So you start to feel lonely and forgotten… like a clone among clones."

Finally, she fell with her back against the wall whimpering, "I hate it when you treat me like I'm nothing! Sometimes, I wish I was back home…I miss my family! I miss feeling like I'm a part of something. I just- I just wish none of this ever happened!"

"Ahsoka," Anakin sat beside her and put an arm around her, "Don't say things like that. I don't know what I would ever do without you. I know I haven't been the best Master and I do get carried away sometimes, but…"

She looked away from him, still upset and crying, then he sighed, "I can't remember how many times I missed my home when I was a Padawan. I just wanted to run away! It was so difficult… but I had to be strong. Then you came along and… I saw myself in you."

She slowly looked at him, and he continued, "I realized that I had the most difficult challenge ahead of me. How am I going to teach this girl everything I know? How am I going to show her everything I learned and all the places I've been to? Ahsoka, I was frightened as well. I was afraid that I wasn't ready- and even worse, I was afraid to let you down. But, I want you to know now, that no matter what happens and no matter how big the strain is between us- I would never ask for anyone else to watch my back. I mean it Ahsoka, you're like my right hand…"

He looked at his prosthetic right arm, "Well, that's a bad analogy, but you know what I mean."

Ahsoka giggled despite her tears and he smiled, tightening his squeeze on her as well, "You're the best Padawan any Jedi could ask for- and an even greater friend, Snips."

She wiped her cheeks then glanced at him, "Even after what I did on Toledo? I mean, the Council, they might…"

"The Council isn't going to do anything to you." She eyed him curiously and he continued, "You were framed, Snips. Somebody spiked your drink."

She sat up, "How?"

"Kluurf leaves put in your drink," Anakin gestured an act of putting leaves into a cup as he spoke, "it causes the midichlorians in the bloodstream to act up, which leads to rage and confusion."

Ahsoka looked shocked, "Who would do such a thing?"

Anakin stood back up, "Think Ahsoka, think back- did anyone touch your canteen?"

She tracked back in her mind to a specific moment and then her brows shot up. It was just after the spar she had with Ross, she was so frustrated with losing to him, especially with Anakin watching the whole ordeal, she never noticed Master Jerandeel handing her a drink- and she drank the whole thing down, "Forn! It was Master Forn who handed me the drink."

"No, that's impossible, Forn is dead." Anakin frowned.

Now she stood up, "It had to be him, Master! No one else touched it."

"Are you sure? Try to think-"

"Master." She interrupted with a frown, "trust me, it was him."

Anakin sighed, she knew it bothered him to think ill of his friend, especially after he had apparently sacrificed his life for him to escape, but she was only telling him the truth.

"Assuming it was him," Anakin rolled his eyes, "Why would he give away his life for us to escape?"

Ahsoka took a moment to calculate, "The Seppies!"

"What about them?"

"They knew exactly where and when to attack, right? So maybe…"

"No!" he snapped and gave her his back.

"But, Master…" she urged but was interrupted once again by Anakin's yelling, "Ahsoka please, I don't want to hear anymore about this. Let's just focus on getting back to Courascant, shall we?"

She could feel his anxiety in the Force. The one thing he always struggled with was the loss of a friend, so losing both Rex and Forn in the same battle was a heavy burden on him. Perhaps not tainting his friend's sacrifice was better for him- even if it meant ignoring the truth- even if it meant not getting back at someone for nearly destroying her friendship with Anakin, she'll let this one go- but only for Anakin.

"Okay." She whispered and smiled, "okay."

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A.N.

Trivia:

1. Aurabesh is the written language seen repeatedly in the Star Wars galaxy.

2. Commander 632 will make a later appearance in my entry for the fanfic "Inbox".

3. Nuts do exist in the Star Wars galaxy, hence the term, "nut case."

4. General Darjeeling refers to a General Durd- that is indeed Lok Durd from Defenders of Peace.

5. Yes, in case you haven't noticed, I thought it would be funny to give the Rodian general a British sounding accent!

Big thanks go to, newfoundspartan, Sacred White Phoenix, AhsokaTano(the biggest review ever!), NeverGoodbyeRoxas, Startail, eeveewhitesakura, Ahsoka14, The Checker of S, Mara, inu'ika217 (sorry man.), BerryBerry-chan, powerstaark, autobotgirl12328(all chapters in one go!) and my brother Tenkan for reviewing.