"Chancellor, are you trying to set something up between Padme and I?" I asked as we boarded the ship that was going to take us back to Coruscant.

We had just finished dinner, he, the Queen, and I, and the entire time he was making small suggestive comments between Padme and I. Saying things like "Oh you two would make an adorable couple" or "You two get along so well it is almost as if you are an old married couple", or even "If the two of you were to have children they would be the most talented". He wasn't being very subtle about it.

"My boy I have seen the way you have looked at her over the years, and I have seen the way she has looked back at you. I may be old, but I know the look of love when I see it." He told me.

"Maybe we grew fond of each other in the past, but nothing is or is ever going to happen between the two of us. I am committed to the Jedi and she is committed to being Queen." I explained to him, it wasn't a lie. I am committed to the Jedi, one in particular, Ahsoka. And it was only a few days ago that Padme told me she is giving up a love life to be the Queen her people deserve.

"Oh come now Anakin. It is just the two of us. You know you can trust me." He pushed.

"At one point I thought I loved her." I confessed to him, "Maybe at that time in my life I really did love her, but now looking back, I am grateful for the time I was able to spend with her but that isn't the future I want anymore. I want her to be happy but I need to be happy as well."

"So it was you who ended things then?" He asked.

"Yes." I told him truthfully. "And it is a decision I stand by."

"I see…" He said and scratched his chin.

"Sir?" I questioned him.

"Oh nothing my boy, there are very few things I am wrong about but ever since I've known you I thought you would manage to end up with Padme,I guess I was wrong."

"Accepting what we were wrong about will only make us stronger." I told him.

"Spoken like a true Jedi Master." He said, then smiled big and placed his hand on my shoulder.

"Maybe one day I will be a Master and have a seat on the Jedi council." I told him, it doesn't sound like a bad option.

"I know you will be my boy, I see a future of greatness for you. Now if you will excuse me I am going to get some rest."

"Yes sir. We will arrive on Coruscant early morning." I informed him.

"If you could make it late in the morning I would greatly appreciate that, I rarely ever get to sleep these days."

"As you wish, Chancellor." I said chuckling and taking my seat to fly the ship.

I waited a few minutes just to be sure he was seated in his cabin before taking off. This was going to be a long flight, especially since there wasn't anyone else here on the ship so I didn't have a copilot so I would be flying this ship all night and I was awake all day. Yeah I could put in on autopilot but I didn't want to. I was in charge of everything going on on this ship and I didnt want to leave anything up to chance. It was about an hour into the flight when R2 came beeping happily into the bridge. I was just about to ask him what was making him so happy but before I could ask him he showed me the pieces of leather I had previously asked for so I could make a necklace for the crystal I had gotten for Ahsoka.

"Thanks a million buddy!" I said taking them from him.

Without any hesitation I began to work on the necklace for her. I was excited to give it to her, I knew she would love it. And it is a perfect symbol for our engagement, nothing any member of the Jedi would ever look twice at. It didn't take me very long to finish the necklace. It held the crystal securely and it looked quite nice. The black leather complimented the blue crystal, this will look beautiful around her neck. I took the necklace and gave it to R2 for safe keeping for now, I didn't want anyone to see me have it then for them to see it on Ashoka's neck; it would look suspicious.

Now that I had that out of my way I focused on getting the chancellor and I back to Coruscant safely. Normally when traveling with the chancellor there was a huge security team with him at all times but whenever the chancellor can he requested me as his sole security detail; so we travel alone. He must have a lot of faith in my abilities for him to do so, he really believes in me, more so than I can say for certain members of the Jedi council. But anyways, to keep enemies off of our trail I made a public announcement that the chancellor and I would be leaving Naboo the next day so if someone wanted to attack us, they would be going for the wrong ship. Only a few people knew when we were actually leaving so if we did end up being attacked, we could assume who would be responsible.

The majority of the trip went smoothly with no incoming attacks or even anyone suspicious being on my scanners, but still this was a big assignment on my own and I wanted to stay on my toes, no matter how tired I was getting. At one point R2 even chimed in that I looked like I was getting tired and the dark circles under my eyes were getting even more noticable. I saracatilly thanked him for pointing that out and as much as I trusted R2 to take over the ship I wanted to stay in control. I was entrusted to this mission, I had to see it through myself to the end.

Finally as we came close to landing on Coruscant I sent R2 to wake the chancellor so he would have time to get ready before we landed. I did what he asked of me and took my time getting here so he would be able to get a little more sleep in. Once he was all ready for the day he came to the bridge with me.

"Oh Anakin! Have you gotten any sleep at all?" He asked when he saw me.

"No sir, your safety is too important." I told him, trying my hardest to hold back a yawn.

"I am very grateful to have a friend like you, who puts my safety above your own personal needs." he said to me and smiled, I smiled in return as a thank you. Once we landed I saw the chancellor to the Senate then made my way back to the Jedi temple. I was in great need of sleep. As soon as I was back in my room and my head hit my pillow I was knocked out.

Over the next few weeks I was unable to go back to Tatooine to see Ahsoka. The council had mission after mission after mission for me, sending me to different parts of the galaxy to make peace treaties, to test new weapons, and mainly to fight in battles. As much as I loved being useful to fight for the Republic, I missed my Padawan, and although she had a good reason to stay off of the battlefield and away from the Jedi council she was falling behind in her training. I wasn't the one to point this out, a few members of the council had told me when they brought me before the council for a meeting. They knew Ahsoka's work on Tatooine was important and that Jabba would only allow the building of the watchtower to be done if Ahsoka was the one overseeing it, but they decided she needed to also focus on her studies. So they finally sent me back to her.

"Go to your Padawan, you will." Master Yoda told me, "Help her,guide her, train her. And when this is over, a retreat you two shall go on."

"Like a meditative one we were sent on over a year ago?" I asked.

"No." Master Koon answered, "A crash course in training, she has been away from the battlefield long enough, but we do not want to throw her back in after so long away. A private training retreat this will be. No sitting around and relaxing, you must work with her. And once you deem she is her old self on the battlefield then the two of you may go back to your missions."

"Yes Master." I said and bowed, "I will let her know when I arrive."

"Knowing Ahsoka you probably won't need much time. She is a lot like you Anakin, always fighting and getting into trouble." Obi-Wan said and chuckled.

"Thank you Master." I said to him sarcastically.

"Be off now, you must." Master Yoda said to me. I bowed once more and left the council room. I made my way back to my room to pack some of my things and to also call Ahsoka and let her know that I was finally coming back to her. I had barely made it inside my room when there was a knock at my door.

"Obi-Wan." I greeted and let him in, "Miss me already?"

"Oh so much Anakin, I could barely stand to be away from you." He answered sarcastically, I couldn't help but roll my eyes at him.

"What can I do for you Master?"

"I just wanted to let you know that you being stationed on Tatooine with Ahsoka may not be permanent, they may pull you away again. I will do what I can to make sure they do." He told me.

"What do you mean?" I asked in confusion. Why would he actively keep me away from Ahsoka?

"Because I know how much you hate that planet. I don't want you to stay there longer than you can handle it. Don't worry my friend I will look out for you." He said and placed his hand on my shoulder.

"Thank you." I said and I actually meant it. It meant a lot for me to have a good friend like him, he was always looking out for me. But in this case I actually wanted to be on that dust ridden planet, only for Ahsoka. "But please don't make too much of a deal out of it. Don't call me away unless I am needed."

"As you wish." He said then left. I waited a few moments after he left before calling Ahsoka. When she answered she was covered by her cloak and she was with a few other clones, one of them being Rex. I wasn't going to lie, she looked a little big under that cloak, it was getting harder for her to hide her pregnancy. But she needed to make appearances on the watchtower so she had no other choice.

"Hello Master." She greeted me. "I am making my weekly check of the tower, everything seems to be going according to plan."

"Excellent. And how is Jabba?" I asked.

"No problems from that end either, I go over once every few weeks and give him personal updates along with playing with his son. Everyone seems to be happy over here."

"Very well my young Padawan. I have some news myself, the council is sending me back to oversee you. I am leaving soon." I told her.

"Great. So you can sit over here and watch me do all the work." She joked.

"That's one of the perks of being a Master Snips, one day you'll get there… maybe."

She responded to that comment by rolling her eyes at me. She opened her mouth to say something else but as she did there was an explosion in the back. Everyone ducked down and Rex instantly threw himself between the explosion and Ahsoka to cover her. My eyes widened at the scene unfolding in front of me. Separatists must have found out that we were building a tower and now they were attacking it; with Ahsoka inside. Instantly the clones pulled out their weapons and looked to Ahsoka for instructions.

"Go find out who caused that explosion!" Ahsoka ordered her men, "Rex stay with me." The other clones instantly took off towards the explosion and it was just Ahsoka, Rex, and I on the call.

"Ahsoka are you alright? Were you hurt? What's happening?" I practically screamed at them.

"I am fine. But Anakin I am the commander on deck. I am expected to go out there." Ahsoka said.

"Over my dead body you're going into battle." I responded.

"I agree with General Skywalker." Rex said. "I'll get her out of here." He said and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Rex, you're next in charge. Go out there and run the attc until I get there." She ordered him shaking his hand off of her. He looked torn on what to do so he just stood there.

"Ahsoka what are you doing?" I asked her.

"I have to go out there Anakin."

"Ahsoka under any other circumstances I would tell you to go but you are carrying our baby. You cannot put the baby in harm's way, get out of there." I ordered her.

"Ahsoka I am sorry but he outranks you. I need to get you out of here." Rex said to her.

Ahsoka looked like she was about to give in and let Rex take her out of there when all of a sudden there was a second explosion but this time it was a lot closer than the first one. The wall near them crumbled down and they both raised their hands to cover themselves from the falling debris. Ahsoka used the force to stop some of the debris from hitting them but she was unable to stop it all. All I was able to see was a couple pieces of the wall hitting both her and Rex before we lost the transmission.