Author's Note: Sorry about this late upload everyone! I have been working on this chapter all week, and was going to combine two events into one, but it kept getting longer and longer. I figured I'll split the difference and have two chapters instead. Here's the first!
-Recovery (POV Ahsoka)-
My eyes struggled to open. It took about 3 long attempts for me to finally force them to stay open for more than a few seconds. I found myself in a bush in another alley. My head was lolling to the side and my back was up against a wall. There was no sign of anyone else around me.
My thoughts went to Anakin, Tokrin, and Master Otarri. Tokrin was with me up on the roof, but when that... wave hit us I lost track of where he was. Anakin and Master Otarri were down below, but I had no idea where they could be now; I hoped they were alright. I blacked out when I rammed into the side of a building. A small consolation was that I was relaxed as I fell down between buildings keeping anything from breaking when I landed on the bush. I did however, receive a large bump on the very back of my head, and my arms and legs felt heavy with fatigue. I could see my left arm in my narrowed field of vision, but my right was covered by some branches. I felt searing pain run up and down my limb, but I was able to get it free to observe the damage. Thankfully it wasn't broken, but I had one unbelievable bruise along the entire length of it. Cuts, gashes, and scratches were also newly added all over my body; I assumed that many of them were from the bush.
Seconds seemed like hours as I slowly gained the strength to get up. It was still night time from what I could tell; dawn was nowhere in sight, which meant that I was only out for an hour or so at most.
"Ahsoka!" I heard a voice calling out. "Ahsoka!"
It sounded like Anakin's voice.
"Here," I weakly croaked.
Footfalls could be heard from around the corner, near the street. It was difficult, but I succeeded in lifting my head up and to the right. A silhouetted figure emerged from the street. A hand beckoned to someone concealed by the building in front of me.
"This way, I think I found her!" The span between the footfalls got shorter. The figure ran towards me. As it neared I recognized Anakin. Another figure appeared behind him and briskly hobbled to me as well. Master Otarri came into focus about the time that Anakin reached me. He didn't appear to be hurt much at all. Some dried blood ran down his face from his forehead and dust covered his brown and black robes. Master Otarri didn't seem too injured either, but a slight limp had formed in his step. Anakin kneeled down in front of me.
"Ahsoka, how are you? Are you hurt? Is anything broken?" he asked me quickly. He moved his face so that I could look into his eyes.
"I'm good Master. Huh, better than ever!" I weakly remarked. "I need some help getting up, but I think I can walk. My right arm hurts though."
He looked at my arm and winced, "Wow Snips, that's a huge bruise! Let's get you up and back to the palace for some bacta." He reached out his hand, which I promptly took with my good one. He pulled and I was back on my feet.
"Tokrin...he disappeared when that thing hit us. I didn't see him but if you got thrown than he did too," I wobbled a bit, but Anakin caught me, placing both hands on my shoulders to steady me. "Let me help find him." I knew I couldn't but I wanted Master Otarri to know that I was worried. I was sure that he knew of his Padawan's lack of companions and knowing that he had at least one would go a long way. Masters are like adopted mother and father figures to us Padawans since we rarely knew our own parents. They teach and guide us just like our own parents would have done, and during the difficult times, they would expect us to come through almost completely on our own.
"No, Ahsoka," Anakin said curtly. "You are in no position to help us. You're the one that needs help right now. Since Master Otarri injured his leg he can help keep you standing while I go looking for Helturus."
Tokrin's master came over on my left side, lifting my arm over his head and around his neck, letting my hurt arm dangle. We both watched as Anakin crouched and then jumped high into the air, causing a small cloud of dust to billow in his wake. Master Otarri stared at the copper colored roof and looked full of concern for his Padawan's whereabouts.
"I'm sure Tokrin's fine, Master," I told him.
"Of course, of course," he said breaking his stare by shaking his head.
"What happened to you and Master Skywalker when that wave hit?"
"Well, we saw a device in the back of the speeder and neither of us knew what it was. Your Master threw a homing beacon onto the underside of the craft and then we got thrown across the street. However, we had braced right before so we were slightly more prepared. I only skidded across the paved avenue but my foot struck a raised, stone planter, spraining my ankle. Master Skywalker ended up flying through the air and landing head first in a tree. Both of us were unconscious and when we woke up, we regrouped and started looking for you two."
"I'm glad you're okay Master Otarri."
"Thank you Ahsoka," he said. "I'm glad that you are without serious injury as well."
We stood in silence for only a moment or so before Anakin came to the edge of the roof with Tokrin's body slumped over his shoulder.
"Look out below!" He called down to us and promptly dropped Tokrin from the roof. He free fell for a second before his body's descent slowed. Anakin's hand was out and he used the Force to bring Tokrin to us. Master Otarri looked more than a little relieved to see his Padawan, whether he wanted to show it or not. Anakin let Torkin gently down to the ground and jumped from the roof. He landed heavily in a crouch and stood to walk to Tokrin. He picked him and and brought him over to us. Master Otarri looked stunned and I gasped as he came closer and I saw the damage done to my friend; he certainly got the worst of us all. Dried blood was caked in the hair on the back of his head and on the once tan robes covering his upper left arm and right calf. A little bit was also on his right side. Bruises and cuts covered his face; his robes were torn all over, revealing a beaten, but toned figure. Worst of all, were the branches protruding from his shoulders and lower abdomen.
"He needs bacta badly," Anakin told us. "He was thrown through hedges and bushes and was skewered on some branches. I found him unconscious in a heap with two branches in his side and leg. I don't know what cut his arm but it looks bad enough. Let's go."
The next hour was a blur as we hobbled back to the palace, which, ironically was only a stone's throw away. Before we set off though, we had tried our comlinks, but couldn't find them; they were lost in the incident. With no one to come pick us up we had begun our trek; each step felt like a mile to me as we walked up the palace steps. Guards at the palace door called for a medical team and once inside, we were whisked away to the med bay. There, 2 bacta tanks were prepped and ready for me and Tokrin. I looked on as Master Otarri and Anakin got bacta spray applied to their cuts, bruises, and injuries. They clenched their teeth, trying their best to bear the pain of the fast acting first aid. The team stripped me of my clothes, behind a curtain of course, and gave me some skin tight medical garments specifically for bacta tank use. It looked much like a diving suit, except that it only covered my private areas, leaving all of my injuries exposed to the bacta. I assumed that Tokrin had the same done to him. Some medical staff led me over to a gurney opposite Tokrin's. He had a breathing apparatus over his mouth and as I watched closer, I began to see him stir. Before he woke however, they gave both of us a sleeping drug. Exhaustion took over so I laid my head down on the gurney pillow and fell asleep.
Muffled talking reached my montrals. I opened my eyes to a blurry image of several doctors and medical staff standing over me. My master came into view and I could tell by the use of his hands that he was aggravated. Finally the noise cleared enough for me to understand what was being spoken about.
"Doctor Kendala we need her back in the field now. This isn't just a threat to the Senator's life, but also one to Naboo. Now," he began calmly, attempting to contain his growing anger. "I need my team to go after this threat so that you and everyone else here has a chance to live another day. Are we clear?"
"As day Master Skywalker, but you should know, neither of them are fit for combat duty- least of all this young Padawan here," he said motioning to Tokrin's gurney. "He really needs to stay here and heal." Doctor Kendala moved closer to Anakin to get in his face. He wasn't as tall as him, but he wasn't about to be intimidated by a tall Jedi Knight.
"They'll be fine. Believe me, I wouldn't be asking if I didn't need them immediately," Anakin said coldly, looking down at Kendala and moving closer to him.
"Hey!" Master Tokrin's voice sliced through the fray and extinguished both aggressive personalities before him, while his hands physically separated the two hotheads before things got rough. "Let's all calm down. I believe that I can be of some help here. I didn't do this earlier because of my own wounds and my need to completely focus on the process." He moved towards me and placed one hand over my head and another over my stomach. "Hello Ahsoka," he said warmly.
"Hello Master Otarri."
"Glad to see that you're awake. Let's get you back in action shall we?"
"Yes sir!" I replied eagerly, still not sure what he planned on doing.
With my go ahead he closed his eyes and furrowed his eyebrows, concentrating deeply. In a flash, blue light shone down from my forehead and from my stomach. My skin tingled as cuts healed, blood vessels repaired themselves, strained muscles relaxed, and gashes connected as Master Otarri hovered his hands over my body.
"Force healing," Anakin muttered under his breath, shaking his head. "At this level it should be virtually impossible. H-How?"
"I used to be a Jedi Healer before the war young Skywalker. I healed many for years, practicing and honing my skill," he smiled. "More than a few clones were rather grateful for my abilities."
I sat up, Master Otarri's hands over my legs, slowly going down each one. Once finished he backed up, allowing me to swing them over the right side of the gurney so that I now faced my broken friend, Tokrin. Several screens on the wall showed his heartbeat and the location of his broken bones. I quickly glanced behind me to find that I too was being closely monitored. Master Otarri walked over to his unconscious student to place his balled up fists on the gurney and hang his head. He took a few long, drawn out breaths and placed his hands over Tokrin's stomach and head, like he did to me. Once again, blue light lit up the surface of Tokrin's skin. Everyone watched in awe as Tokrin's wounds, which seemed to be far worse than mine, were healed. Broken bones knit together, causing his body to move and shift on its own, and the sites where he was impaled or scratched sealed up. Master Otarri healed Torkin much like he did me. He finished with a sigh, the blue light fading away into his palms. Tokrin began to move.
"Wha-What happened?" he said, sitting up and shaking his head to come out of his stupor.
"Well lets see," I began with a smile. "That device we saw went off and sent all of us flying. You and I were injured the worst, the speeder got away, Master Skywalker was going to kidnap us out of here, but our wounds were too bad for us to do any good in the field, so Master Otarri used the Force to heal us! Now you're caught up."
Tokrin looked up to his master, "I forgot that you could do that. Thank you Master."
"Yes, thank you Master Otarri," I said.
"It was my pleasure, young Padawans," he said with a bow. "Now, on to the plan."
"Yes- but first," he looked at Kendala. "You and your team need to leave room please."
"Why? This is my emergency room, you leave," he said, clearly getting impatient.
Anakin sighed and lifted up his hands in submission, "Look- ugh, fine. Have it your way." He looked at me, Tokrin, and Master Otarri, "Let's leave the doctor alone, shall we?"
We were too embarrassed to say anything, so Tokrin and I kept quiet. Master Otarri opened the door and stepped aside for us to go through first. We did and waited on the other side; Anakin stared at the doctor but finally relented and exited the small medbay, Master Otarri right behind him. They led the way as Tokrin and I followed, feeling a bit awkward after witnessing what had been the second standoff between Kendala and Anakin in only a few minutes. He led the way to a private terrace overlooking the gaping hole behind the palace.
"This should do fine," he said putting his arms out and leaning on the railing, looking out and down over the great crevasse. "While you two were in bacta, we figured out how to proceed and drafted a plan with Obi Wan. The homing beacon is still working," he said pulling out a holochart, "and it led us here." He pointed to a portion of Naboo that was in the middle of a lake surrounded by grasslands. "We will enter here," he said pointing to a waterfall on the south side of the lake. "That is where the speeder entered and it's exactly where we'll be heading next. This is most likely another base of operations much like the Blue Shadow Virus lab. However, I don't suspect that it will be used for chemical weapons. So, here is the plan: We will all infiltrate the facility, find the mole and eliminate it, blow up the facility, and if we run into any problems at all, we will contact Obi Wan for help."
"Sound good?" Master Otarri asked.
Tokrin and I nodded our agreement. I was still unclear on one subject though so I spoke up. "Masters? How long were Tokrin and I out?"
Master Otarri looked up at me, "Two and a half days."