Chapter 10

Secrets of Elom

"You sure you know what you're doing, General?" Rex asked dubiously, raising a scarred eyebrow at his commanding officer.

Anakin showed a ghost of a smile, most of his attention focused on landing the Twilight in the middle of the blizzards of Elom. "Are you talking about landing this scrap heap or sending the Padawans out the airlock?"

"Latter, Sir. I mean, they're just kids, are you sure they can handle getting to the base in the middle of a snowstorm like this? Even if they sit tight and wait it out, that pod's not in good enough condition for them to hole up in. And if it is the Seps who disrupted communication, if the droids show up-"

"Relax, Captain!" Anakin commanded, banking the ship hard to port. Rex took that as a clarification of his order, though it was most likely just a move to keep them from crashing. "They're smart kids. They have R2 with them anyways."

"Uh, the droid, sir?"

"They'll be fine, Rex, drop the subject."

"Yeah, right. Because everything is always fine, General," Rex thought. He put on an accepting smile, however, and gave a convincing, "Yes, sir!"

"Strap in," Anakin ordered. "I think I'm about to crash another ship."

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"Okay, let's see," Ahsoka said, assessing the damage to the escape pod. "Viewport's transparisteel is cracked, and it seems like the environmental containment isn't working, because I'm freezing."

"Okay, so a cracked windshield and a cold Togruta," Carter said, leaning back to cross his legs on the control board. "Anything serious?"

Ahsoka shot him a look. "Maybe it's the lack of power. How about you and R2 see what you can do about it?"

"Why aren't you gonna help out?"

"Because I'm not the mechanical genius: my expertise is in computers, and because I don't really feel like it."

Carter shrugged, sliding out of the pilot's seat and walking over to where R2 was messing with the pod's internal wiring. "Let's check it out, then, buddy."

The little Astromech beeped a positive response and scooted over a margin to allow the young Jedi some room to work.

Ahsoka, having nothing better to do, took Carter's seat in the pilot's chair and watched as his fingers expertly treaded the escape pod's inner mechanics. It intrigued her to see those hands, which she had seen on numerous occasions involved in rough, strong work, such as weight lifting or lightsaber combat, now moving so lightly and tenderly that they couldn't harm a child. Deep down, she knew that the thought was stirring inside her. "What would it be like to hold those hands, to be held by those well-built, gentle arms?"

For nearly half an hour she just sat there, gazing at the attractive young man in front of her who was too consumed in his work to notice. However, R2 noticed, and he beeped his observation to the both of them. Ahsoka looked down, embarrassed. Carter looked up at her from his sitting position on the floor of the pod, a heated blush coloring his cheeks. "You've been staring at me?"

Ahsoka shrugged, her composure mostly back in check. "Just trying to see if I can learn anything by watching you. Not really working, though. I keep confusing all the wires."

"That's just 'cause you can't see the connection ports from where you're sitting. I can tell which is which though."

"You sure?"

"Trust me, Ahsoka. The pod's in good hands."

"My feelings exactly," Ahsoka thought. However, she just swiveled in the pilot's chair to look out the viewport in an attempt to appear indifferent. The blizzard was still raging outside, however, so the only sight she really got was a never ending whiteness.

When she saw the faint, grey outline coming toward the escape pod, she knew there was trouble. "Carter," she whispered, as if whatever was out there could hear them. "Carter, come here."

He frowned, but pushed up off the ground, wiping greasy hands on his pants. "What?" he asked as he came up behind her.

She pointed at the figure, which eerily seemed to be looking more and more like a decapitated humanoid. "Good guy or bad guy?" She glanced back at him, for the first time noticing that she had to look up. Somehow, without her detection, he'd grown within the past six weeks. Carter had grown at least a head taller than Ahsoka, and his boyish features had become chiseled, making him less of a cute boy, and more of an attractive man. Now, however, his face had paled.

"Don't you know what that is?" he asked. She sighed inwardly as she realized his voice hadn't gotten deeper, that there was at least some remnant of the Carter she knew.

Ahsoka shook her head. "If I did, I wouldn't have asked."

"SBD. One of the big ones. We need to get out of here." He took her hand and began to tug her towards the exit, but she pulled away, hand on her lightsaber.

"We're not running."

"Ahsoka, the thing has a rocket launcher for an arm. This'd be different if Rex or Anakin was with us, but—"

Ahsoka turned to give him a glare full of hurt and anger. "I'm just as capable as they are! I can do this!"

Carter held up his hands defensively. "I didn't mean any offense. It's just that Skywalker's a Knight, and Rex could take the thing down from a distance easily. Please, I don't want you to get hurt if you try to take it on up close."

The pain in his eyes was all too real. Ahsoka just couldn't say no. With a sigh, she nodded. She began to gather all their possessions and wipe the escape pod's memory core in case it held any important Republic data.

Finally, Carter unsealed the hatch, and he, Ahsoka, and R2 got their first real taste of Elom's cold climate. Within a second, she could feel the chills traveling up and down her spine as an icy blast of wind hit her skin. Taking Carter's hand in fear of losing him in the never ending whiteness, she broke into a dead sprint in the opposite direction of the Super Battle Droid.

"Wait!" he called. "R2!"

Ahsoka stopped, and sure enough, as she looked back, she could see the little Astromech struggling to roll as fast as he could behind them. The snow seemed to keep getting up into his servos, however. She couldn't do anything about it, though. "Come on," she said. "He'll be fine!" She gave his hand a little tug as if to remind him that it was his idea to run anyways. And in that instant, he pulled away and ran towards R2.

"Carter!" Ahsoka screamed, running after him. "What're you doing?!"

He said nothing, but wrapped his arms around the droid and hoisted him up onto his back. "Run!" he yelled. "I'm right behind you." Carter began to jog back in their original direction, speeding up after he got accustomed to R2's weight.

It was then that he tripped, sending the Astromech flying forward and the boy sprawling onto the ground. Ahsoka stopped and turned, yelling for Carter to get up and run. He attempted to obey, but as soon as he stood, he collapsed. She sprinted back over to her friend, and gasped when she saw his entire left leg soaked in blood. Without knowing what else to do, and the SBD getting closer, she picked him up, staggering a little under his weight, and began to run. "R2, you're gonna have to use your jets or something!" she yelled. The little droid beeped in affirmation of the order, and started to fire his jets in short burst to enable movement above the snow.

"What're you doing?" Carter asked. "I can run, put me down!"

"Your leg doesn't hurt?!" she asked incredulously.

"No, why would it? It feels fine."

Ahsoka winced. "You mean you can't feel it?"

"Feel what?"

"Carter, your leg is bleeding like crazy. I think some ice cut you or something when you fell, but you're in no condition to walk- or run."

"And I can't feel it?!" Carter asked, immediately serious.

"The cold's probably numbed it," she said. "I just need to take a look at it."

Carter took a quick look around, then pointed to a nearby mountain to their right. "Over there," he said. "To the ice caves."

Ahsoka continued her steady sprint, turning in the direction Carter had pointed out. Worry for Carter's injury kept her resolve up. The cold may have numbed it partially, but if Carter could feel no hint of pain, then there must have been something wrong with it. She hoped that it was just his natural reaction to block out pain.

She wasn't sure how long they'd run, but she continued at the same pace, even if the droid wasn't behind them any longer. But they needed shelter, and they needed it right then. Carter's leg hadn't stopped bleeding, and Ahsoka didn't know if he'd lost too much blood or not.

"You okay?" she asked him anxiously.

Carter just grinned. "Yeah. 'Course I am. The question is, are you okay?"

Ahsoka smiled at him. "We're almost there," she said, not answering his question out loud. But silently, she thought, "Yes, Carter, I'm okay. But if you can't pull through this, I won't be."

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"Well, could've been worse," Anakin said, inspecting the damage to the Twilight with a smile.

"Of course it could, sir," Rex replied, not quite fully understanding what could be worse than complete engine and long-range communications failure.

Anakin tossed him a comlink without warning, causing Rex to stumble backward in order to catch it. "Contact Ahsoka, see how they're doing."

"Yes, Sir!" Rex said with a salute. He keyed the comlink's controls. "Ahsoka, come in."

There was static for a few seconds before the voice of the young Togruta came through. "What's the damage, Rex?"

The clone smiled briefly at the phrase which she had undoubtedly picked up from her Master. "Comm.'s down, and the engine isn't working, but I'm sure General Skywalker can fix that within a day. How are you two- three, sorry, I forgot about the droid- doing? Anywhere near the base, or are you still holed up in that pod?"

"Um… none of the above?"

It was the uncertainty in her voice that made Rex's heart skip a beat. "What's the situation?"

"We were gonna stay in the pod, but an SBD showed up. I wanted to fight it, but Carter said that the rocket launcher would never give me a chance, so we ran. And Carter went back for R2 and had to carry him, but he fell and sliced open his leg. So we had to hole up in these ice caves." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Carter's leg is really bad. He's lost a lot of blood. I don't know… I don't…" Rex heard her voice catch slightly. "I don't know if he'll survive this."

"I heard that," Anakin said in a worried tone. "You need to make him a tourniquet, 'Soka."

"But… I don't know if I can!"

"If you don't try, he's going to die, I'll walk you through it."

In the background, Rex could hear Carter. "I'm going to die because I tore up my leg? Come on, I wanted to get sent out with a bang!"

"Master!" Ahsoka hissed.

"You need to do this, little'un," Rex said gently. "And then once we get up to the medical frigates, they'll amputate it."

"Amputate?" Ahsoka repeated with a gasp.

"It's better than having the kid dead!" Anakin said fiercely. "Now, take your belt…"

________________________________________________________________

"It isn't the best work I've done, but it's doing the job," Ahsoka said into the comlink, eyeing the makeshift tourniquet that wrapped around Carter's leg just below his knee.

"Good job, Ahsoka," Anakin said encouragingly. "We'll come and find you after we check out the base. It's only a few klicks away."

"Got it, Master." She pocketed the comlink and glanced over at Carter, who gave her a reassuring grin.

"Thanks," he said, green eyes sparkling. He leaned forward, attempting to take in some of the heat that R2 was generating through his jets. "So we just sit here, right?"

"Pretty much," Ahsoka replied with a sigh.

"I'd offer a duel, but under the current circumstances…" he gestured at his leg, implying what would have ended his sentence.

"I still don't really know how it happened."

"I think it was ice, like you said. But I don't know. I couldn't feel a thing. I still can't." He was silent for a while, glancing down at his useless leg with a hint of sadness in his eye. "You think that they make prosthetics that can still transmit feeling?"

Ahsoka gave him a pitying look as she sat down next to him. "I'm sure that they do. Master Skywalker's got one that does. It'll work out." She reached her hand forward, running her fingertips through his soft, black, hair.

He gave her his now-trademark half smile, sending her heartbeat into a frenzy. "He does? How'd that happen?"

"Dooku sliced it off… Your hair's so soft," she murmured.

He grinned. "It's the conditioner."

She glanced up. "The what?"

"Oh, right. You don't have hair, you wouldn't know. It's this stuff that makes hair softer and more manageable and stuff."

"That sounds amazing." Sarcasm was clear in her voice.

Carter grinned. "Makes it smell good, too."

She smiled slightly as she leaned in, placing her forehead on the top of his head, her fingers still threading through the hair on the back of his head, and inhaled. She could slightly smell the shampoo and conditioner from his short time tin the refresher several hours before aboard the Twilight above the sweet scent of his cologne. "Humans do know how to smell good," she admitted into his pitch black hair.

He twisted his head around so that their foreheads were touching. "It's a gift," he smiled and put a hand on the back of her neck, mirroring her own hand on the back of his. "But that's not to say Togrutas reek. After all," he sniffed audibly, "you smell great."

"It's called perfume," she said with a smile.

"I know. But you're spraying on stuff that's meant to smell good to Humans, not Togrutas."

"Yeah, well I do spend more time around Humans than other Togrutas, so…"

He slid his free hand forward, entwining his fingers with hers. "So?"

She just sighed. "Carter, what are you doing?"

"Sitting here with my best friend. What are you doing?"

She rolled her eyes. "You know that's not what I meant." She picked up their intertwined hands. "This? You know it's not allowed."

"Look, Ahsoka. I know there's a possibility that the whole blood loss thing could kill me. And I don't want to die without letting myself feel… I don't know, whole."

She tried to swallow the lump forming in her throat. "You know how much I want this, too, Carter. But we can't. The Code says-"

"Screw the Code," he murmured, pulling her head down and locking her lips with his. This time, there was no regret, no uncertainty, no guilt in his kiss, just pure, sweet, love. And Ahsoka couldn't handle it. Now that the gap was closed, she couldn't bear to open it up again. She wrapped her arms around his neck, running her fingers through his hair once again, and pulled him down so that he was nearly on top of her. His muscular arms wrapped around her waist tightly, pulling her to him. Finally, however, the kiss ended as they both pulled back, gasping for air. His arms loosened, but she placed a hand on his wrists.

"Don't let go," she said.

"I won't," he whispered, pressing his lips to her cheek. "Okay? I promise you, I'll never let you go."

She sighed, leaning against his chest. How she wished he could keep his promise. But he couldn't, not without breaking his vow to the galaxy. For now, though, she was content in his arms, knowing that this moment would just be lost in the wind, the storm, another of the many secrets of Elom.

A/N: FINALLY! Awh, wow. You don't even know how much I enjoyed writing that scene. Like seriously, it was so BEAST! (in case you don't know, in my vocabulary "beast" is synonymous with "incredibly awesome." Which is why my Sophmore friend calls me (a Freshman) FroshBeast.) Anyways, big thank you to Nickelback and their song "Far Away" for inspiring that scene. You should go back and listen to that song while reading it. I woulda told you to do that at the beginning but for those of you who've pretty much memorized the song, it would have ruined the surprise for ya! Or didja know it was coming? I was kind of even surprised with what I wrote. Originally, Ahsoka was supposed to run away again, but having nowhere to run, come back to Carter and try to explain things to him, and there wasn't as much loveyness. BUT I pretty much spent the whole day with my friend and her boyfriend, which is probably the cutest couple I've seen in my lifetime, and I witnessed their loveyness which put me in a lovey mood, which makes me write lovey things. Ta Da!

Anyways, peace out, hope you like it, Happy October 1st. :)

-DarthBubbles