POV: Ahsoka Skywalker

I laid beside Anakin for the rest of the night, watching his chest rise and fall slowly. He was covered in several pieces of bacta, especially on his chest. There was a piece wrapped around his jaw, entering his mouth. He would be better by morning, hopefully. Obi-Wan stayed in the room, holding Anakin's other hand. He didn't want either of us to leave because he was so vulnerable right now. Obi-Wan was passed out in a chair beside the medical bed.

I could see that Anakin was in another regeneration trance, hoping to speed up the healing process. He hated lying on a bed for a long period of time because it made him feel helpless and useless.

I watched his face, yet another sign of peacefulness within him. I moved one of the pieces of bacta cloth from his chest to see it beginning to heal. I smiled to see what he could do while asleep. I pressed the cloth back down on his wound, leaving it there just in case it still had healing bits left. I laid my head beside his shoulder, lightly kissing his skin. "No… no…" he muttered sleepily. "Stop…" I raised my head, staring around the room. His voice was barely audible, but he sounded afraid. His body jerked and his face became pained. "No!" he screamed, lurching into a sitting position. He began to breathe heavily, pulling both of his hands to his face. Obi-Wan woke up immediately, standing beside Anakin with a hand on his back.

I tried to pry his hands away, but his grip was too tight. "Anakin! I'm here! It's okay, Ani." He began to whimper slightly, his body shaking. "Ani… Ani, Ani." I pulled him against me, stroking his hair. "I'm here, sweetheart. Talk to me, please." I looked up to see Obi-Wan staring at him in a panicked state. "Anakin, what happened?"

He turned towards me, throwing his arms around me. "Soka…" he whispered, his voice breaking.

I felt shocked, but I wrapped my arms around him as well, my hands lightly rubbing his back. "Anakin, it's me. It's really me, okay? Tell me what happened, sweetheart." His trembling hands stroked my rear lek slowly. I felt his tears seeping onto my lek and skin. I glanced up at Obi-Wan. He nodded and slowly began to leave the room. I pulled back slowly to stare at his face. "Anakin."

"I saw you."

"Me?"

He nodded, his lips beginning to quiver. "Someone had you. I don't know who it was or where you were, but you were gone. You weren't the person you are now. I… I don't understand. You told me that our love meant nothing to you and you looked…" he broke down against me.

"I looked like what, Anakin?"

"Like a Sith."

I gasped, pulling him closer. "As long as we're both alive and together, I will never become a Sith. I promise you that, Anakin. I'll never do anything to hurt you. Our loves means everything to me."

"That's why this was so frightening. Whatever you were in my dream, I knew it wasn't you. It just felt so real."

"It's okay, Anakin. I'm not a Sith and I never will be, okay?" I whispered into his ear.

He nodded, stroking my rear lek again. "I don't want to let something like that separate us, Ahsoka. I love you too much to let you fall to the dark side. I don't even understand why you would turn."

"Nor do I, Ani. I'm just as confused as you are. I'm perfectly content with being a Jedi and being with you." I kissed his hair and he smiled. "I love you, Anakin. Don't worry, okay? I'm not going to become a Sith. Ever."

He chuckled, pulling back. "I believe you and you know I'll never let it happen."

"The only dark side you'll see out of me is when we're alone on Coruscant."

I watched his tiny smile become a smirk, his eyes dancing with a new light. He leaned forward, kissing me slowly. I closed my eyes as I wound my arms around his neck, clasping them behind him. He slowly pushed me back onto the bed by crawling on top of me. "You do know that I'm right outside of the room, right?" Obi-Wan whispered from the other side of the door.

Anakin groaned while I laughed. He sighed and plopped down beside me, throwing his arm over my waist. "So come on in, Daddy," he said jokingly.

Obi-Wan groaned as he walked in. "I didn't mean that in a father-like way, Anakin."

"Sure, sure."

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes. "Is everything all right now?"

"Yep," we both said. He began to rub small circles on my stomach as he lay there. Obi-Wan took a seat in his chair once again, trying not to watch us. He closed his eyes and leaned back.

Anakin slowly kissed my rear lek, planting light kisses here and there. "I'm sorry for waking up like that," he whispered.

"Don't worry about it, love." He pulled me tighter against him and I rested my hand on his while he continued to rub my stomach. He rested his chin on my shoulder, sighing deeply. "Is something else on your mind?"

"I just want to go back to Coruscant. I miss the kids…"

Obi-Wan raised his head, frowning. "I agree with you there. I'm missing Airi and Satine…"

We both stared at him. Anakin spoke first. "Well, I'm hoping that Ahsoka's father will let us out of here soon. I hate seeing you unhappy, old man."

"I'm not that much older than you, Anakin."

There were several footsteps outside of the room. Immediately, I sprung off of the bed. Anakin struggled to lift himself off and place his feet on the floor. Obi-Wan was standing, ready to fight. I took a defensive position in front of Anakin, knowing that he was still too injured to fend for himself. Again, I immersed myself in the Togruta ways. I growled as the door opened. Had I not heard the voice of warning, I might have leapt towards the intruder. It was my father. "Ahsoka, stand down." Anakin's hands rested on my shoulders, lightly pulling me back towards him. Obi-Wan stood beside me, also feeling defensive. "I am not here to begin another fight with you, my daughter. I wish for you to reconsider everything you've decided. Will you marry one of our warriors and remain on Shili?"

"No," I responded with authority. "How can you not see that I love my husband? I won't leave him even if you beg me to. I love him with everything and I'd give everything for him. These suitors you've selected for me only care about the power they'll receive once they sit down in your throne beside me."

"That's nowhere near being true! The men I've selected care deeply about you. I've heard it said to me several times. They love you, Ahsoka. The entire kingdom loves you and we absolutely need you to lead us. The people you call your family now are going to betray you in the end. Remember, we are at war with Coruscant, thus making us at war with you."

"Then so be it."

"Ahsoka Tano!" he yelled, balling his hands into fists. "You will do as I say or I'll –"

Anakin stepped forward. "If you so much as lay a finger on her, I willnot hesitate to kill you," he growled. I could see the war brewing between the two of them – yet another fight over me…

I placed my hand on Anakin's chest, staring into his eyes. He tore his glaring eyes from my father to stare at me with softer, oceanic eyes. His arm wrapped around me protectively and I enjoyed it. I turned to face my father again. "Ahsoka Tano –"

"Skywalker," we both said.

"I will not accept you bearing his last name."

"I chose to marry him and I think it's my decision as to which last name I go by! In this case, I'm Ahsoka Skywalker. Now, you're going to have to put up with that or else I'm leaving."

"You can't leave."

"Why not?" He glanced away sadly. "Father?"

"Answer her!" Anakin growled again, growing furious with my father's lack of information.

The door opened behind him and droids – Separatist droids – entered. "Hands up, Jedi."

Anakin wrapped both arms around me, pulling me closer to him. Obi-Wan took a defensive position in front of us both. Seeing as though we were in the medbay, the Force – as Alesk said – would work here. Obi-Wan and I began to push forward with the Force and the droids – along with my father – were pushed through the doorway. I turned, grabbing Anakin's hand. The three of us began running through the halls. I had no idea where I was leading us, but I knew anywhere was better than in there. Ali stopped us in the hall. "Wait!"

I turned as Anakin crashed against me. "Sorry," he whispered, resting his hands on my hips.

Ali ran towards us, holding our lightsabers. "I thought you three might want these back. I recently heard from one of the guards that they were in our throne room beneath the king's chair, so I took it upon myself to take them."

"Thank you, Ali," I whispered appreciatively as she handed me the sabers.

She smiled warmly. "Oh, and Anakin?"

"Yes?" he asked cautiously.

She pulled a key out of a small pocket and held it out towards him. "The key to the collar."

"Oh, we're keeping it on him," I laughed.

He turned slightly, smirking at me. "You would like that and as much as I'd love to please you with it, I kind of need to use the Force so I can help us escape. I promise I'll put it back on once we get to Coruscant if that's what you want."

I laughed as Ali pressed the key into his palm. "Get going, little ones. The guards are coming."

"Thank you, Ali. I'll make it up to you someday," I promised. She smiled, nodding as we began to run once more.

I gave Obi-Wan his lightsaber, but kept mine and Anakin's. "Come on, Snips," Anakin laughed beside me. We rounded a corner to see that we were surrounded by droids. "Ahsoka, give me my lightsaber…" I sighed, handing it to him. He put it between his hands, igniting it. I watched him leap into the air and crash down upon the droids, slicing several in the process.

That was one hallway at least.

Obi-Wan took off down another hall, slightly mimicking Anakin's actions. I, however, went straight ahead, taking on my own group of clankers. "Oh, look. It's Skywalker's pet."

I gasped as I was lifted from the ground by the Force. "Vent – ress."

"And now you die!"

As she was about to tighten her fingers, closing them indirectly around my neck, she was thrown backwards. I was caught in strong arms that held me close. I looked up to see Anakin. One of his hands was extended towards Ventress. "Try it again," he taunted.

"Step out of the way, Skywalker. I don't need you."

"Why do you want her?" he asked, moving himself in front of me.

"We need her in order to keep our relations with the Togrutas."

She leapt forward, crashing her blood red twin blades down against Anakin's single azure blade. "Get out of here, Ahsoka!" he called back to me.

I spun around after a moment of hesitation. I dashed down towards Obi-Wan, leaping over the droids he was fighting to take them out from behind. I glanced towards the hallway I had been standing in to see a cracked wall, but no sign of my husband or the Sith assassin. The droids kept coming in a never ending onslaught. Obi-Wan gripped my wrist, pulling me away from the mess. "We need to find a ship to get out of here, Ahsoka!"

"We can't leave Anakin behind!"

"Ahsoka, listen to me," he said, gripping my shoulders as we entered a safer zone. "He'll find us, he always –" Anakin crashed through a wall, lightsaber ignited. He fell onto the floor, gasping for breath. "See what I mean?"

I knelt down beside Anakin. "Are you okay?"

"We're in so much trouble right now," he managed to say.