Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars
Anakin sat in his chair with his head in his hands. How could he have allowed his Padawan to get hurt? At least she wasn't dead, because a Jedi Knight was almost always exiled from the Jedi Order if he allowed his Padawan to die, and that would not happen. Every five minutes or so Anakin would get up and go check on Ahsoka's status, but she was always listed as 'pending'. How Anakin grew to hate the word, pending. It had to be the most annoying word in the whole galaxy. Anakin settled back in his chair, his eyes still trying to adjust to the blinding whiteness of the hospital.
When the listing finally said 'recovery' Anakin couldn't have been down the hall to Ahsoka's room fast enough. When he reached it, Anakin hesitated for a few moments at the door, and then checked the visitor status beside the door. The little white sign said, 'Limit one person. Please limit your visit to fifteen minutes'. Anakin peered in the window. There was nobody in the room, so Anakin knocked on the door as he opened it up. Ahsoka was still pretty much unconscious, so Anakin could do nothing with her. He sat in the chair across the room from her bed and started to worry again. What if she died? Anakin was still freaking out, but mentally, as he hated to show emotion, even if there wasn't anyone else there. When the fifteen minutes were up, Anakin didn't leave, only because he had fallen asleep from exhaustion. The medical droid came in ten minutes later, and assumed that Anakin and Ahsoka were either married or courting, so he didn't disturb Anakin.
When Anakin finally woke up a few hours later, he started. Jumping up, he glanced at the clock, then groaned. His head hurt terribly, and he had overstayed in the room, which was as blinding white as the rest of the hospital. Anakin stood up, and walked over to Ahsoka. She was still hooked up to the life support systems, so she obviously wasn't breathing on her own yet. The doctor droid came back in, and addressed Anakin in his electronic droid voice.
"Sir, I must ask you to leave." Anakin looked at the droid.
"I was just leaving. Do you know if she will be all right?" Anakin tried to keep the worry out of his voice, but a little leaked into it.
"I cannot say for sure. But I must have you leave now." Anakin gave up trying to talk to the droid, and left the room. He walked towards the door of the medical center so he could get some fresh air, and ran into Obi-Wan, who was just walking in.
"Anakin. I was just looking for you. Chancellor Palpatine has been asking about your mission. I gave him what few details I had, but didn't have enough to satisfy him. You will need to go talk to him." Anakin opened his mouth to protest, but Obi-Wan cut him off.
"I will stay and watch over Ahsoka." Anakin's shoulders slumped, and Obi-Wan put a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"She will be all right, Anakin. Now go. The Chancellor is waiting." Obi-Wan walked towards Ahsoka's room, and Anakin walked out the door. He summoned a taxi, and sped towards the Jedi Temple. When he arrived, Anakin walked up the stairs, trying not to worry too much. Halfway up the stairs, Anakin ran into Master Yoda. Yoda didn't say anything, but knew Anakin needed to hurry, so he let him go. Anakin was in front of the door to the Chancellor's office when he stopped, and calmed himself. He opened the door, and stopped. Before him there was a private meeting between Chancellor Palpatine and two of the other senators. He quickly apologized, then turned to leave.
"Anakin, we were just finishing up. Please, do come in." Anakin walked in, and stood at the back of the room, where he couldn't hear anything. He could have if he tried, but he didn't. When the senators left, Anakin walked to the front of the room. Chancellor Palpatine motioned for Anakin to follow him, and the pair walked towards the Jedi Temple. When they reached it, Palpatine made small talk until they reached the council room. The Jedi Council was meeting, and Palpatine nodded at Master Windu, who spoke next.
"Anakin, what are you doing here?" His tone of voice wasn't friendly, but it wasn't too stern either.
"Chancellor," Anakin addressed Palpatine, and not the Council. "I was told that you wanted a report on the mission." There was a frown on Anakin's face, as he feared what the Council would say.
"Yes, how did it go?" Palpatine's tone of voice put Anakin at ease.
"Well, the mission was a success, until General Grievous escaped down the tunnels on Drune, in the Catalyst system. Ahsoka and I were standing guard, waiting for backup. I turned, and Ahsoka had chased after Grievous herself. When I reached her she was fully unconscious. I believe you know the rest of the story already." Palpatine frowned.
"I thought you were training your Padawan better than that. Did she disobey a direct order?" Anakin couldn't make himself meet Palpatine's gaze.
"Yes. She did." Anakin hung his head, afraid of what the Council would think of him.
Nobody said anything for a few minutes, and then Palpatine spoke up.
"Where is Ahsoka now? She will need to be addressed by the Council." Anakin fought back tears, and was successful.
"Ahsoka was, injured. She is unconscious."
"Thank you Anakin, you may leave now." Anakin walked at a moderate pace towards the door. He didn't want it to look like he was rushing out of the room, but he didn't want it to look like he was trying to listen in either. When he finally left the Jedi temple, he checked his timepiece. He'd been gone a little over two hours, and went back to the hospital as quickly as possible.
Yay!! It's longer this time. I know many of you have been waiting very patiently for the next chapter, so here it is. I'm hoping to be able to update about once every few days. This chapter was so late because I have a 4-H contest tonight, and thus most of my time was devoted to preparing for that. But I hope you like the chapter!!