POV: Anakin Skywalker

My chest was burning. The fumes from the gas chambers were finally getting to me. I coughed, covering my mouth and nose. Ahsoka touched my arm. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," I gasped, coughing again. "I'm all right." I glanced back at the clones. They seemed to have an easier time since they had breathers within their helmets. Shaking my head, I turned back towards Ahsoka. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm good," she smiled.

"General," one of the clones spoke up. "Would you like to use my helmet for a while? I've resisted the fumes thus far. I don't mind giving it to you."

I smiled, almost thanking him until another clone spoke up. "Why would you offer to save him? He's disobeyed everything he stood for."

I slowly turned, glaring harshly at him. "That's your call, trooper. I put the lives of my men before myself."

"What about your women?" the arrogant clone said.

"I only have one woman. What's your name anyway, trooper?"

"Barlex."

"All right, Barlex," I began. "For the time being, you are my trooper. I don't know why you have such a problem with me. It's not because of Ahsoka, so whatever grudge you're holding against me, get it off of your chest now."

"You are the worst Jedi I've ever met."

I stepped forward, keeping the glare in place. Ahsoka's hand on my chest stopped me from moving further. I realized that my hand was actually gripping the hilt of my lightsaber. "Go on."

"You always spoke about remaining loyal to the Republic, to the Jedi. You threw the code out the window when you destroyed Ahsoka and Rex. You weren't even meant to survive this long, General. I don't apologize for being blunt. Chancellor Palpatine was meant to kill you years ago." I growled as he mentioned Palpatine's name. The scars on my back burned at the memory. "It's a pity he didn't kill you," he muttered. "Rex might actually have survived…"

I shoved Ahsoka away from me and jumped towards Barlex. I slammed him backwards with a single blow to the chest. My mechanical fingers wound around his neck as I breathed heavily. "Do not blame me for his death. He was a good man."

"Ani, please, stop…" Ahsoka pleaded, trying to pry me off of Barlex. He was gagging, trying to breathe. I pulled back, releasing him. I stood up, clutching Ahsoka. I held her close to me as I walked away. "Take a minute to breathe. I can tell that you aren't feeling well." I threw my back against a rock formation behind me, falling down. She knelt down, crawling between my legs. She leaned her head onto my chest. "I love you. I hate seeing you so upset…"

I wrapped my arms around her. "Ugh…" I moved one hand up to stroke the side of her lek. "I love you, Soka. I'm sorry for acting this way. You're right, I don't feel too great. I don't know where we're going and I'm probably going to get us all killed…"

"Generals!" one of the clones yelled – the kind one. "There seems to be an exit this way!"

Ahsoka jumped up, pulling me along with her. We jogged down to the clone and glanced up. There was a ladder hanging down from the top of the cavern, a hatch at the top. "Ani, can you lift me up?"

I smirked. "Of course," I laughed. I put my hands on either side of her, gently lifting her up. Luckily, I'd grown weaker emotionally and not physically. She grabbed the ladder and began to pull herself up. "Nice view," I whispered into our bond, smirking.

"Shut up."

I laughed as she crawled up the rungs. She spun the wheel on the hatch, opening it. It clicked loudly, echoing around us. "Nice going," I muttered.

"I can still hear you from up here," she whispered.

"Well, get a move on, beautiful," I chuckled.

"Typical –"

I turned around to face Barlex. "Would you like to go again?"

"Stop. I know he's being arrogant, but he's trying to aggravate you."

I sighed, washing my anger away. I glanced up at Ahsoka to see her staring down at me. "I love you," I whispered into her thoughts. "So much…"

"I love you, too, dear."

She pushed up on the hatch, climbing up a few more rungs to peer outside. "Everything looks –"

"Ahsoka?" I called up to her. "What's wrong?"

Before I could do anything, she jumped out. I heard her lightsaber buzzing as she swung. I threw myself up onto the ladder, climbing the rungs quickly. I ignited my saber and helped her destroy the few droids that were patrolling the larger pipes out here. Once they were disabled, I stroked her cheek.

She was holding her arm tightly. "Let me see it."

"It's nothing," she muttered. "Just a little shot…"

I moved her hand away. It looked bad… I ripped some of the leather off of my outfit, wrapping it around her arm. She stared into my eyes, smiling. "I… I guess it'll work for the time being, Soka."

I heard voices and turned. Several hundreds of droids were heading directly at us, their blasters raised. "You know, every time I go somewhere with you, we're always getting shot at."

I smirked. "You know you love it." We ignited our sabers quickly, deflecting blasts as they came at us. "Get up here!" I called down to the clones. They began climbing the rungs and kneeling beside us. The three of them slid down the edge of the platform, leaving Ahsoka and me up here. "Go, Ahsoka!" I shouted.

"But –" She sighed at the look I gave her and deactivated her lightsaber quickly, sliding down as well. I did a back flip landing beside her. We began running side by side until we reached the clones. We were now a small distance away from the droids behind us.

I felt a disturbance in the Force and, judging by Ahsoka's actions, she did, too. I reached my hand out for her and she gladly took it. We jumped off of an overhang, landing gracefully. I turned around and began to levitate the clones onto the ground, landing them just as nicely. Well, the two of them anyway. I was tempted to leave Barlex up there, but I knew Ahsoka wouldn't allow that… "Soka, can you lead the way? Just run wherever you think is the safest."

She rolled her eyes at me before nodding. "Sure thing, sweetheart." She dashed ahead of the group, leading the way. I held up the end, making sure nothing would come after us. Once I was sure that we were safe for the moment, I ran off after Ahsoka and the men. I heard a bunch of yelling and stopped, glancing in the direction. My heart stopped when I saw the wire gates and the enslaved Togrutas behind them. Though I hadn't been a slave for nearly twenty years, I couldn't bear to watch others suffer like that. I felt Ahsoka's eyes on me and I heard her light footsteps come closer. "Anakin…" I couldn't pry my eyes away from the scene before me. Many of the Togruta females were standing in the center of the area receiving lashings. I cringed each time a whip made contact with their back. "Ani, we can't go back in there. I know how much it hurts you, and it hurts me as well, but there's nothing we can do. We need to escape before it's too late."

She grabbed my hand, but I couldn't respond to her touch. "I can't," I whispered. I closed my eyes as I heard more screams from the gates. "After everything, I can't allow this." I turned to face her, putting my hands on either side of her face. "Soka, I need you to lead them out. Take them to another opening and hopefully you'll meet up with Obi-Wan."

"Do you really expect me to leave you?"

"The same comes from us, Generals," the clone announced, loading his blaster. "We won't leave you."

I smiled weakly. "Good men." I kissed Ahsoka quickly, but passionately. "I love you."

"I know you do," she smiled. "Now, come on. Let's get going." We began running down towards the gates. I pulled out my lightsaber, activating it quickly. I slashed directly through the gates, creating an opening for everyone. Blasts came at us immediately. Ahsoka and I deflected them while in motion. The clones stayed as close to us as they possibly could. "Free them," Ahsoka told me. "I'll handle the droids."

I nodded, darting past her. The clones were now firing on the droids. I reached a few of the female Togrutas. They cowered away from me. I held my hands up. "I'm here to help you." I stepped closer, slicing through the bonds on each of the willing Togrutas. Others ran away from me in fear. Turning, I saw Ahsoka on the ground. Barlex and another clone were standing above her, defending her. She was clutching her waist as the clone – the one who offered his helmet to me – was trying to relax her. "There's an opening in the gate," I said to the Togrutas. "Run through there and you're free." I didn't stick around to watch them safely escape. I had done my part in freeing them, now they had to take the initiative and get out. I collapsed beside Ahsoka, holding her close to me. "What happened to her?"

"She was blasted from the side. It's nothing fatal, Sir."

I moved her hand to see a bit of steam coming from her side. It looked painful beyond belief though. "You're okay," I whispered to her. "You're okay."

I heard another buzzing noise and twisted to look behind me. "Ah, what a coincidence."

"It's about time you got here," I sighed in relief.

Obi-Wan knelt down beside me. "Is she all right?"

"She's in a lot of pain at the moment, but he said it wasn't fatal."

"Good man, Spinoff," Obi-Wan said, smiling at the clone. "And as usual, you had to do things the hard way, Anakin. Why didn't you keep running?"

I glared at him. "You know why." He sighed, glancing around. Cody and the three clones were now defending us, blasting droids continuously. The one who hadn't spoken much fell. "Soka, do you think you can get up?" She breathed heavily, clutching my hand tightly. I saw a brief nod and I slowly helped her up. "If you need me –"

She promptly ran off, jumping into the air to freefall into the middle of the droids. She sliced several of them without even being blasted at. Obi-Wan stared at her in shock. "I see she's feeling better."

"That's my girl," I smirked. "She's too strong for her own good." Once the droids were finished, she walked – limped – back over to me. I stared at her in concern as she wobbled a bit. I reached out just in time for her to collapse into my arms. "She needs medical attention," I said quickly.

I sat down, holding her against me. Her eyes were closed as she breathed. She was breathing as if she was about to have a child. Spinoff knelt down, opening up the pack that Ahsoka had pulled detonators out of. He began to place a piece of bacta cloth on her side, sealing it to her clothes with a few straps. "She'll be just fine in a few minutes."

"We may not have a few minutes," Obi-Wan said, looking up. I looked with him to see a bunch of droids appearing.

I sighed, rubbing Ahsoka's right lek. "Go figure."

"We're always in trouble with you around."

"Shuttle."

"What?"

"I said shuttle!" I said, rolling my eyes. I pointed towards a shuttle.

Obi-Wan's comlink began to beep. He quickly answered it. "Kenobi here."

"Obi-Wan, what is your location?"

I watched Obi-Wan stare at the com. "Master Plo, how good it is to hear you. We're on Shili. We've just managed to find a shuttle. We're heading towards it now."

"So we can expect your arrival shortly then?"

"Of course."

I glanced down as Ahsoka began to move in my arms. She opened her eyes slowly, reaching up to stroke my cheek. "Ani…"

"You're fine, Ahsoka. There's bacta on you. Just relax, okay? We've found a shuttle."

I lifted her into my arms as Obi-Wan shut off the com. "All right, Cody, cover the rear." The three clones ran ahead of Obi-Wan and me. Ahsoka groaned in my arms and I immediately stopped in my tracks, checking her. Obi-Wan stopped as well to make sure she was all right. I glanced up to see the ship – and the clones – explode. The explosion bounced the platform around and we fell to the ground. Obi-Wan lifted his head to sigh. "Well, I guess we'll have to do this the hard way."