"You better be keeping up with me, Snips?"
Anakin shouted over his shoulder, a few strides ahead to form a path through the thick vegetation. Ahead of them, Ahsoka heard cannon fire, and prayed their shuttle was hidden well enough to avoid being destroyed by air artillery.
Honestly, after the hell of a mission the Master and Padawan had been on, getting their ship blown up would be the icing on the cake.
"Right behind you, Master!"
Ahsoka was nearly on his heels, using her lightsaber as best as she could to defend them from the shots behind. It wasn't fair how fast the B1 droids could navigate jungle terrains without tripping over logs or falling into little streams. Ahsoka's chest heaved with every step she took, leaping over some rocks to avoid twisting an ankle.
"We're less than half a klick from the shuttle!" Anakin told her, swinging his lightsaber to clear some particularly thick vines.
Ahsoka couldn't wait to get off his damn planet. They'd only been here for a little more than twelve hours, and Ahsoka had honestly never seen so many pirates in one place. Kallistas was swarming with them.
She'd spent the entire mission stuck close to Anakin's side, knowing well enough that the way the pirates were leering at her wasn't just because they were foreigners. Anakin's jaw never unclenched at any point between them entering and leaving the shady cantina where they were trying to find a Separatist leader.
They found him, as well as his army of three hundred droids. Ahsoka knew Anakin would be giving the GAR an earful once they returned to Coruscant, thanks to the dodgy Intel that nearly got them both killed.
It had quickly proved impossible that they wouldn't be able to subdue the Separatist leader when he instantly recognised the famous duo from the HoloNet and ordered his droids to hunt them down. What was supposed to be a 'walk in the park' type of mission became a 'run for your life through the jungle' mission.
Nearly there, Ahsoka thought to herself, begging her desperate lungs to not fail on her as she tried to keep up with Anakin. If she fell too far behind, he'd start making her do cardio and stamina training by running laps up and down the Temple steps.
"I can see the shuttle!" Anakin shouted, relief strong in his voice.
Something snagged on her foot, pressure wrapping around her ankle like a hydraulic crush and tripping her up when she tried to pull away. Ahsoka barely managed to catch herself with her hands, the wind getting knocked from her lungs as she fell atop of a mossy log.
As fast as she hit the ground, Ahsoka pushed herself up, not wanting to fall behind, when the pressure around her ankle and foot suddenly became blinding pain, drawing a choked cry from her lips.
Assuming there was something holding her in place, she pulled her lightsaber from her belt, ready to slice away the vine. A glint of metal caught her eye as she rolled over, the pain lighting like alcohol near a flame as she shifted her foot.
She choked when she saw what was causing the pain.
There was a bear trap around her ankle. A kriffing bear trap. The sharp, rusted metal teeth were digging into her ankle, allowing rivers of scarlet red to flow down her foot and onto the jungle floor.
Anakin heard his Padawan hit the ground behind him. He expected her to jump up, and already had a smartass comment on his lips about her lack of balance, when he was jolted by the sudden rush of pain across their bond.
He spun around, dirt spraying up around him as he tried to slow down.
Ahsoka was laid in the dirt, lifting herself up but her face was scrunched up in pain. His eyes led him to the root of her agony.
He felt his stomach flip when he saw the bear trap gripping her right foot in an impossibly tight grip. His concern was temporarily replaced by anguish when he realised he should've known that the sand bears are common in this area. Now, his Padawan had paid the price for his ignorance.
The pain seemed to get worse the longer she looked at it, and it took Ahsoka a moment to realise the ringing in her montrals was actually from the sound of her screams.
"Ahsoka!"
Dark robes flashed across her blurring vision, a blue lightsaber swinging to defend her from the Separatist blaster bolts threatening to hit her. Ahsoka couldn't focus, her vision swimming and nausea climbing up her throat as she tried to move her leg and inescapable agony flooded her entire limb.
Then, arms were around her middle, and Ahsoka was lifted from the ground. Anakin threw her over his shoulder, bear trap and all, as he sprinted towards the shuttle. He might've been trying to speak to her, or take some of the pain onto himself via their bond, but Ahsoka was too delirious with agony to notice.
All she could focus on was keeping somewhat of a tight grip around her lightsaber as she bounced against Anakin's back like a sack of tubers.
By the time she felt Anakin run up the ramp of the ship, shouting at R2 to get them out of the atmosphere and plot some coordinates for hyperspace, Ahsoka was hardly able to breathe. Panic combined with pain made her heart thud in her montrals.
Anakin lowered her onto a bunk, his expression tightening as her shouts of pain didn't cease. When Ahsoka saw the white of exposed bone around the teeth of the trap, she had to lurch over the edge of the bunk to vomit onto the durasteel floor.
"I'll be right back, Snips," Anakin muttered, stepping over the vomit to run to the cockpit.
It felt like it took forever for him to return, and all Ahsoka could do was count her breaths, trying to stop herself from hyperventilating. Kix had taught her about shock. She had to stay as calm and as still as possible.
Her efforts were futile. Every time she inhaled, shooting pain travelled up her leg, and her exhale would be garbled. With every waiting second, her grip on her lightsaber clutched to her chest loosened by another fraction.
"Right, I'm here," Anakin's face appeared above hers, worry lining his features as he unzipped a medkit and dug through its contents, hypos and bacta patches flying everywhere. "Where's the kriffing-"
"Mas… hurts…" she tried to speak, but it became out as harsh gasps and cries.
"I know, Snips," Anakin found what he was looking for- a tourniquet. He started wrapping it just below her knee, drawing it tight enough to have Ahsoka arching her back off the bunk with a pain-filled shout, "I know, I'm sorry. I need to get the bleeding under control."
"Get it off!" She cried, pressing her palms into her eyes. The trap was like a dead weight at the end of her leg, the pressure unbearable. She could feel her bones grinding and splintering. "Master, get it off!"
"I will, Snips," he promised, pressing a hypo to her thigh. He brushed his free hand over her forehead, "I'm going to get it off, it's gonna hurt for a minute."
Ahsoka lifted her head, watching Anakin furrow his eyebrows before wrapping his hands around the metal appendage. Their eyes locked for the briefest of moments, and then Ahsoka felt him breaching her shields that were weakened in her vulnerable state.
Sleep, Padawan.
Her head rolled back just as he ripped the trap apart, freeing her leg from the inhumane device.
Anakin tossed the metal appendage aside, scowling at it when it hit the floor with an obnoxiously loud clang. Even with the tourniquet wrapped around her leg, the bleeding picked up slightly, as was expected when removing an intrusion, but he didn't have much of a choice.
There were five obvious wounds on the top of her ankle, and three more on the back. Each one is deep and dark, oozing blood with some even exposing the white of her bone. Anakin's stomach tightened in a knot. She'd need surgery, maybe even a dip in bacta, to heal from this.
The trap was rusty, obviously old, and had been lying in the jungle for who knows how long. Ahsoka was at just as much risk of contracting an infection as she was bleeding out. He got to work quickly, wrapping thick bandages around her foot and ankle without too much rhyme or reason. He just wanted to control the bleeding.
It was a good thing Ahsoka was knocked out with a strong sleep suggestion, or he was sure she'd be fighting him off as he accidentally pulled her clearly broken ankle from side to side as he tied off the bandages.
Blood was everywhere. It was on the floor, on the bunk, on his robes. The worst of it was on his hands, the thick liquid seeping into the seams of his gloves and coating his hands. Anakin wondered how many times he would have to scrub his nails to get rid of the feeling of her blood on his skin.
R2 rolled out of the cockpit, beeping worriedly for Ahsoka as he took in her condition. "Get me in touch with the closest medical station, buddy," he ordered, slumping down beside his Padawan to wrap his fingers around her wrist. Her pulse wasn't steady enough for his liking.
The astromech continued to whir and whine, spinning in frantic circles. "She's alright, R2," Anakin sighed, looking at Ahsoka's ashen face, "She has to be alright."
When she woke up, she was in a medical centre.
She couldn't tell which one it was at first, them all looking the same with bright lights and white walls. The sterile smell festered in her nostrils, her dry mouth leading her to believe she was being given oxygen somehow.
Ahsoka felt hazy, like no part of her was cooperating with her brain. Her limbs were all heavy, a tingling numbness in her right leg that started in her hip. When she blinked, her eyes felt tacky, the residue of adhesive tape still on her eyelashes following surgery.
"Ahsoka?"
Her head turned to the side- slower than she intended. Anakin was rising from the chair beside her bed, looking tired and worried but otherwise in one piece as he hailed Doctor Brightside from across the medbay.
Ahsoka gave him a small smile, hoping it would ease his anxiety that he had unknowingly projected across their bond.
"Hey, Master," her voice sounded quiet and weak. She licked her lips, "How long have I been out?"
"They pulled you out of surgery two days ago," Anakin told her, resting a hand on his shoulder as the Doctor joined them. "You spent seven hours in the bacta tank, and then you've been asleep ever since."
"Commander Tano." Diana greeted, subtly checking all the monitors hooked to the Togruta. "How are you feeling? Any pain?"
"My leg's tingling," she closed her eyes briefly, "Aching, a bit."
"You'll need a lot of physiotherapy," The elder woman informed her, fiddling with the multiple bags attached to wires that travelled to Ahsoka's elbow, "But you're lucky General Skywalker got you to us quickly. If we hadn't got you into surgery so fast, you might have lost your leg."
"That's a nice thought," Ahsoka turned her head back to the Doctor, "Thank you."
Diana gave her a rare smile, "I'll leave you to rest. Call if the pain worsens at all."
"I'm glad you're alright," Anakin said once they were alone again, squeezing her shoulder, "You had me worried."
Ahsoka smiled up at him, the painkillers making her feel dozy, "I have a newfound respect for bears."
Anakin smiled back, brushing a hand over her montrals, "Me too, Snips."
They're stuck on leave for a while after that, with Ahsoka on crutches with strict orders to not bear any weight until she was cleared by Master Che.
Neither Master nor Padawan minded, the distance from the front lines giving them time to just exist as people rather than soldiers. Unable to train, they spend their days fiddling with droids or going out with Senator Amidala.
The story of the bear trap on Kallistas was told often, usually to their fellow Jedi or to the politicians they see in the Senate Building. Anakin made a game where they see whose retelling of the story can trigger the colour to flush from someone's face the fastest. He usually won because he wasn't unconscious at any point.
The worst part of leave was the weekly physiotherapy sessions which Ahsoka strongly despised.
Apparently, it was necessary following three fractures and two torn ligaments.
She had to sit on a stiff bed whilst Healer Tyson flexed her foot up and down, casting her apologetic looks every time she grumbled. He suggested hydrotherapy, and somehow, Master Che approved.
Being allowed to rent out the entire Temple pool for her physio session came with many benefits. There was nobody to complain or moan when she and Anakin splashed each other, and they were allowed to stay there as long as they liked, considering Ahsoka had ample time out of the pool to rest.
"I could get used to this," Anakin said, towelling off his hair. It was long past dark, the duo having been in the pool since dinnertime.
"It sure beats getting shot at by tinnies," Ahsoka muttered, wiping her montrals dry. She paused, giving Anakin a look that could only be described as sheepish, "Speaking of Master. I may have invited Rex and the boys to come swimming tomorrow…"
He could only roll his eyes, "You'll be the one explaining that to Master Che, little one, not me."
