It had been a long day, and Anakin Skywalker was tired.

He, Rex, and the rest of the 501st had just returned from some strange ice planet named Eea, where they were supposed to be looking for General Grievous, but somehow got lost and had to find shelter in some freezing, abandoned ice cave until one of the locals found them and directed them back to their ship.

That was why Anakin was heading straight for his quarters in the Jedi Temple, where he planned to sleep for the next five hours.

And that was why, when he entered his room, he almost shrieked when he saw Ahsoka standing right there.

Scrambling to regain his composure, Anakin forced a smile and gestured to his door. "Ahsoka... what are you doing here?"

Ahsoka didn't smile back.

If anything, she looked mildly annoyed.

"You promised we'd go sparring as soon as you got back," she explained, raising her eyebrow markings.

Anakin inwardly groaned. He'd forgotten all about that. Little had he known that the mission was going to be so... exhausting.

"Maybe later, Ahsoka," Anakin panicked. "Right now, I actually have to... um..." He tried to come up with an excuse while Ahsoka shot him her deadliest glares.

"Suuure," muttered Ahsoka. "Stop making excuses. You've already put this on hold for weeks, with your pathetic little lies, and I'm not going to buy it this time. So let's go sparring!"

Anakin ignored her and forced his fake smile even wider. "I... um... Obi Wan needs me to come help him with something. In, the, um, hangar."

Ahsoka didn't flinch.

Five minutes later, the two of them were in the training room; Anakin still yawning and Ahsoka already activating her lightsabers.

"It's so cold in here," Anakin complained. "Maybe we -"

"Get out your kriffing lightsaber!" Ahsoka yelled. "What's wrong with you? You usually love sparring!"

Anakin stared at the ground. Ahsoka was right. What was wrong with him?

He finally activated his saber, but just the glare of it made his head hurt. In fact, everything hurt.

The first time Ahsoka swung her lightsaber at him, he went to block it, only his arms just didn't want to cooperate, and his lightsaber ended up skidding halfway across the room.

Ahsoka stopped mid-swing, staring at him.

"I'm... I'm sorry, Ahsoka..." Anakin gasped, his lungs trying to get air. "I... can't... breathe..." Ahsoka's eyes widened and she rushed to his side, helping him sit down in a chair at the edge of the room.

"Anakin?" she cried. "Skyguy, what's wrong?"

Anakin didn't know what was wrong with him. But he did know that it was getting harder to breathe, and the temperature in the room felt like it had dropped at least 20 degrees.

Ahsoka was already calling Obi Wan, and Obi Wan was there in just two minutes.

The next few events were a blur. Everything felt... so... disorienting. Was this what happened when you didn't rest after a mission? Or was it something else?

Voices rang through his head and pounded at his skull, threatening to break in. Every light that entered his line of vision felt like the sun itself. What was happening? Sure, he was probably sleep deprived, but he felt like he had just gotten pneumonia or something. The questions floating around his head turned into sharp little pains and made his headache even worse.

As the last of his consciousness drifted away, he could make out a faint outline of 2 worried faces hovering above him, and then there was a sharp pain that spread throughout his entire body, and then... nothing.