Yo! How are you doing guys? Good I hope. For this scene, I was just planning on trying to play on Ahsoka's senses but it actually got way out of hands on its own, but I don't think it's that bad. You tell me. I also actually realized it's going to end soon, like the next chapter will be the last one. But don't worry, if I have some ideas for Clone Wars, I'll write more and I'll definitely write on Rebels, I got some great ideas for you.

TS


Ahsoka could fell she was in a lying position. She couldn't exactly open her eyes or move anything for that matter, her mind still too foggy and not quite out of unconsciousness yet. She kept on hearing a slight buzzing in her head as if a wasp had found a way inside it and was stinging her skull from the inside. Her eyelids felt as heavy as if rocks were resting on them and her mouth was dryer than any desert she knew. She actually wouldn't even be surprised to find sand in it.

After a few moments, she seemed to regain a bit of her spirit and her eyelids trembled when she tried to open them but that was it. Instead she focused on her other senses than movement. She wrinkled her nose at the different fragrances in the air. The immediate smell that harassed her was something that smelled at the same time like medicine and sweat and it seemed to be all around her, above her head, under it but also slightly on her left. It also smelled of old. She had no idea how in the universe she was able to feel things so clearly but couldn't snap entirely out of unconsciousness. Then she felt the strong copper smell of blood. Again, it seemed to be all around her but particularly lingered below her chin, like way down, probably somewhere near her middle. Once she had indentified those strong smells, she realized some others were hidden because they were less powerful and overwhelming. She could smell a bit of booze and food, some smoke occasionally and some more disgusting things that almost made her throw up like piss or strong salty male sweat. It immediately reminded her of pirates and though she struggled to figure out why she associated that repulsive odor with pirates, she couldn't find an answer. A last scent was lingering in the air and it was the general air of Florrum filled with dust and other volatile particles found on a desert planet.

As for taste, it was quite difficult to tell. The taste of the warm and disgusting water from the troopers bottle still lingered on her tongue but other than that and the fact that her mouth felt very dry, she wasn't able to tell anything else. So she guessed they didn't try to force feed her or that she didn't throw up.

Hearing came back later. She didn't exactly have ears like humans and her morphology was way too complicated for her to try to figure out how she was able to hear. She simply focused on the sound that echoed all around her, allowing her to believe she was in some sort of cave or big room that didn't have columns or stuff like that. Maybe the troopers had taken her to a shelter somewhere near their rendez-vous point? If animals lived there before, that would explain most of the smell but not the booze. She could hear people talking in the distance but was unable to make out the words or even the language; she just heard a flow of more or less human voices, some with deep military training which made her smile and others with strong accents which made her frown. She could also hear a loud and continuous thunder but it seemed far away. She would guess it sounded like a full battalion of droids attacking with tanks and all but there was no way those things could all fit into the canyons. And there also was the buzzing but the more she thought about her surroundings the more it subsided.

Thanks to her montrals, she was also able to perceive all vibrations around her and truthfully, she didn't get much. There seemed to be no organic and living being anywhere near, at least not in the few feet around her. She could feel someone in the back of the circle she was able to produce in her mind where she caught the vibrations but she wasn't actually sure someone was really there because that person almost didn't move at all as if they were sleeping.

It's only after those long minutes of straining her brain to analyze and mentally observe the environment that she managed to move. As if her body was waiting for her to figure everything out before allowing this next crucial step. She could feel she was lying on something hard but it wasn't cold like stone, it wasn't warm either. If she tried to move her legs or trunk, chest included, a sharp wave of pain shot from her stomach and made her head swam with suffering. She only tried it once. The next thing she did was to move her fingers. Her arms seemed to be the only parts of her body uninjured.

She tried to open her eyes again but a sharp pain shot from her temple, then from the back of her head and the fog came back, clouding her mind while fire was spreading through her veins and bones. She had the feeling that everything was broken, not just her ribs like Trend had told her but her entire body. It simply refused to obey her without making her pay for her cockiness with sharp pains that were very specific but also general and so overwhelming she felt herself slip slowly back into unconsciousness.

But this time, it was as if she knew it was her last chance. It was almost as if she saw a huge sign that flickered in red and told her it was now or never. That if she'd allow herself to continue slipping, she'd end up falling forever and the crash would break her mind too this time, uniting her fully with the Force. Speaking about the Force, she was starting to feel it more strongly as if it was gathering around her, as if it had decided for her that it was time to go. She didn't want to go, she had her whole life to live but at the same time, the more the Force crept around her the more peaceful and at ease she felt. Her lungs suddenly didn't burn anymore, her bones seemed to be fixed and the fog in her brain wasn't creepy or scary at all, it was more like a welcoming mist of light and softness. She could feel herself relax too much, her breathing starting to get slower. She vaguely felt someone touch her arms and legs, even her montrals which she usually didn't like because they were very sensible. But at that point, she just didn't care. She wasn't feeling any pain, she was at peace and the Force was welcoming her with open immaterial arms.

That's when she heard her voice being yelled in the distance. By none other than her own Master. With this one yell he had chased half the soft mist away and Ahsoka could almost imagine the Force freezing in its tracks and looking back as if to make sure Anakin was actually coming. Then someone grabbed her left hand a little too roughly, shaking her whole shoulder not on purpose which made her scream mentally as her ribs moved with excruciating pain. The Force looked back at her, or at least the immaterial entity she was picturing in her mind. It seemed to hesitate between going on as if nothing happened or backing away now that Anakin was here. Because Ahsoka was just sure it was her Master, she'd recognize his voice, Force signature and the vibrations from his movements anywhere. He kept on talking to her, gently stroking her forehead where the bandages were not but she couldn't make out what he was saying. Though it was soothing her, even calming her down and reassuring her more than the previous soft mist. The Force took its decision and smiled at her before shaking its immaterial head and disappearing, the soft mist with it. The more it withdrew, the more pain came back and Ahsoka shot her eyes open.

She tried to scream in agony but her cry died in her dry throat. Her feverish eyes looked everywhere at the same time, not being able to focus on one of the many faces surrounding her. They were too close and she panicked, her breathing speeding up alarmingly.

"Get back! Give her some space!" Anakin yelled and all the troopers and even Hondo took a few steps back.

Ahsoka's gaze trembled and she shivered under the blanket even when Anakin's gloved hand grabbed hers and traced gentle circles on it to calm her down. He kept telling her gently and warmly to look at him until she managed to focus on his deep blue eyes and the scar near one of them.

"It's alright Ahsoka, I'm here. We're all here."

He seemed to indicate other people but the Padawan couldn't focus on everything and her mind simply didn't acknowledge that. Instead, she tried to keep looking at her Master's familiar face.

"You scared the krif out of me, Snips. I felt you were gone there for a while. I thought I lost you."

He didn't tell her that her Force signature had been eally close to disappearing, like snow in April. He didn't want her to worry and he could see that she wasn't paying attention to everything he said or everything that happened around them. Like she wasn't registering the battle that was raging outside although the walls of the room trembled from blast explosions. He quickly assessed her condition by himself, he didn't have time to get Trend to hear his full medical summary. All the clones were protecting the entrance to the base with the pirates until reinforcements arrived. Plo Koon and Luminara's Padawan, who was a very good healer, were about to land and take care of the remaining droids. Anakin's crew that had left the compound dealt with the first wave before it hit the base, but the droids were too many for his crew alone.

He looked down at Ashoka and gently caressed her cheek. He was smiling on the outside to ease her but on the inside he was screaming of despair. Ahsoka was covered in bandages and her fever was only rising, she was trembling and even convulsing at times, she constantly frowned and winced although she probably didn't realize that. He could fell just from the touch of her hand in how much pain she was and how deep and bad her body had been damaged. Also the way she looked at him with her tired and unfocused eyes, he was starting to fear that her mind would be affected too. A body could heal easily but the mind was another story and he didn't want his Padawan to suffer that much. If he could do anything, he'd prevent her from suffering at all. He actually still hadn't forgiven himself for letting that happen to her when she didn't deserve such a predicament. But the only thing preventing him from slamming his fist in the wall in frustration was Ashoka's fragile silhouette and weak presence that needed him. Now that he had found her again he wasn't going to let her go.

"General!" Wolfe yelled from the entrance and stopped shooting. "General Plo Koon and Commander Offee are here!"

Soon afterwards, the droids were completely destroyed and Plo Koon was finishing them when Anakin came out of Hondo's base, Ahsoka's limp but still conscious figure in his arms. He was trying to carry her without further hurting her but he had to hurry: at this point, her survival depended on his ability to bring her to the medics as quickly as possible. He let Master Plo deal with Hondo and the pirate didn't try to stop Skywalker to say goodbye, he simply smiled as he watched them both get in a shuttle. As soon as they were on board, Anakin lowered Ahsoka on the floor of the shuttle, only Ahsoka's remaining team came with them, all also in need of medical attention but nothing life threatening or at least not yet. Barriss was with them too and started immediately working on Ahsoka until they got to the cruiser. The whole way Anakin held his Padawan's hand and squeezed it from time to time to know if she was still conscious because she had closed her eyes out of exhaustion. Every time he gently squeezed she squeezed back until they were docking to the cruiser. That's when she fainted again but thanks to Barriss's healing skills neither the fog nor the mist came to haunt her.