POV: Anakin Skywalker

"Remind me why we were assigned this mission?" Ahsoka hollered at me.

We had arrived on Felucia about an hour ago, and we were already waist high in battles. There was no time to rest and the clones were getting injured hastily. "Snips, just get through it. We'll be finished eventually," I replied.

Aayla Secura was off in left-field fighting a mob of super battle droids. Ahsoka was fighting all the standard droids. I was taking out the cannons and such. Leave it up to The Chosen One to do all the hard work. I was seriously beginning to doubt that prophecy's truth.

Ever since... well, Padme, I've doubted my strengths. She brought out all the weakness in me. Maybe that's why our relationship hadn't worked so well.

I had proposed to Padme when I was twenty and she accepted. We were a day away from being wed secretly on Naboo when she decided I wasn't good enough for her. She had been seeing other men while she was with me, and came to the conclusion that I wasn't good enough for her. I guess being a major Senator had brainwashed all the sense in her mind.

Obviously, that left me insecure and alone for about five and a half years when I received Ahsoka Tano as my Padawan. I have to admit, I wasn't very happy that day. Obi-Wan had tricked me and I wasn't too fond of his trickery. He had signed me up for a Padawan learner knowing that I was in full disagreement on the matter.

I now realize that his trickery has made me the happiest man in the galaxy. Ahsoka is the most amazing person in the world. The only bad thing is that I go on living each day believing she's going to do the same thing that Padme did to me.

"Skywalker, behind you!" Master Secura exclaimed.

I was too lost in thought to realize that we were still under attack. All the memories of Padme caused me to drown, making me lose focus of reality. I turned around, ignited my lightsaber, and sliced a droid in half. These droids were beginning to get restless. It's not like they can actually be restless, since they aren't human, but they were persistent when advancing against the Jedi.

Ahsoka's presence came close to me and I realized that she was worried about me. "Are you okay?" she whispered.

I looked down at my Padawan. "Yes. I'm sorry. I was…distracted momentarily."

She looked skeptical, but I had been distracted. "Tell me later?" she asked.

I sighed. "Maybe."

Twenty Hours Later

"When do we get to go home, Master?" Ahsoka looked up at me. We were now inside of a hidden enclave on Felucia. We'd been stuck here for hours and most of the troops were beginning to lose hope. Aayla was attempting to form a master plan that would thrust us into victory, but I was beginning to doubt that possibility. Ahsoka was sitting on the floor of the cave, leaning against the wall.

"Whenever we win or die, Ahsoka."

Her expression became solemner upon hearing my reply. "That's something exciting to look forward to..."

I glanced away from her and to Aayla and her troops. Well, the remaining troops. We had six hundred clones with us. Two hundred survived the first attack, fifty survived the second, and who knows how many will survive after the third attack. "Anakin, come here," Aayla beckoned after she caught me looking at her.

I moved away from the cave's wall and made my way over to her. I hoped that she had something new to share with us. Ahsoka needed some inspiration and I just needed a tactic to inspire her. "Yes, Master?"

She glanced at me. "We may have a plan, but it mainly includes you..."

My eyes met hers. "Brief me."

Fifty Minutes Later.

"This sounds completely stupid, Master! Get back here!" Ahsoka barked at me over our comlinks.

"Glad you think so," I said, grunting. It was hard to reply to her at the moment. I was navigating the tree-like landforms of the planet. There was a mist, so I was covered nicely.

I was to distract the droids for a while, killing as many as possible. Once I saw an opening for the troops to begin their attack, I would signal them. For the time being, I was on my own. Ahsoka wasn't very happy with the plan. I told Aayla to wait until I was gone to brief her on it. Of course, I was long out of her sensing range, so I was free to do what I needed without her following and endangering herself.

Aayla, Ahsoka, and the rest of the troops didn't know where the Separatist base was, but she sent me out to scout rather than her troops, which were limited.

I was jumping from tree-plant to tree-plant quietly. I was thankful for that because no droid would be able to hear me. That lasted for a while until I stepped on a branch that decided it wanted to snap... Of course, I was about twenty meters in the air...

I fell to the ground, but the Force eased the pain that was surely to have occurred upon hitting the ground from that distance. "Jedi!" I heard a droid yell. Within seconds, there were several blasts being fired in my direction. I felt them all through the Force before they had the chance to hit me. I ignited my lightsaber and started to deflect the blasts.

The droids were beginning to surround me, so I decided to switch to offensive, rather than staying on the defensive. I began destroying as many droids as I could at once. I was slicing and Force-pushing as many as I could. I was beginning to lose hope that I would leave this fight alive. The droids were circling me, both super and standard.

"General!" The clones had arrived. They shouldn't be here right now, but I'm assuming they'd protect me first. That was one of the things I didn't like about leading these guys. They'll die for anything and anyone without taking their own lives into consideration.

I looked back at them – two scouts. They had probably been here since we sent the scouts out two weeks ago. We lost all contact with them, but I had apparently just found them. Both scouts and I had successfully deactivated the droids by forcefully annihilating them. "Thank you, scouts," I said, praising them. "What are your names and ranks?"

The scout colored in green saluted me. "Lieutenant Jeremiah, reporting for duty, sir."

I nodded my head and glanced at the other trooper, colored in gray. "Lieutenant Marcus, also reporting for duty, sir."

"Well, lieutenants, thank you for saving my life. How long have you been on Felucia?"

Jeremiah spoke first, "General, we've been stranded here for about twelve days. We lost contact with the Jedi Council and the Chancellor around that time. We successfully scouted out the planet, finding the Separatist base in the process."

"You found the base?" I asked. "Where?"

"It's on the southern end of the planet, hidden in a mass of those tree-plant things."

I hit the button on my comlink to connect with Aayla and Ahsoka. "Aayla here."

"Aayla, I just –"

"Skywalker, where are you?"

I sighed. "Aayla, I found the missing scouts we sent to search the area. They are certainly alive and have also located the Separatist base."

"Send me your coordinates, Skywalker. Tell the men that we'll make sure they get off of this planet soon, but for now, we're going to need all the help we can get. Once we take out the base, we can leave."

I sent the coordinates to Aayla. "Yes, Master."

"Skywalker, stay put. We will be arriving at your location momentarily."

I nodded and shut off the comlink. I turned to Jeremiah and Marcus. "We're going to wait for Aayla to arrive with my Padawan and the remainder of our troops."

"Master Secura is here? And how many troops do you have?" Marcus asked.

I laughed. "Yes, Master Secura is here. We have fifty troops left." I could feel the anxiousness building inside of Marcus. It seemed that he had some attraction towards Aayla. Of course, I didn't mind. He's a human. He can have attachments, unlike us Jedi. I've been breaking the rules for a while now...

Marcus was silent in his bliss, so Jeremiah took over the conversation. "Sir, what's the plan when Master Secura and the rest arrive?"

I replied, "We're going to destroy anything and everything. Leave nothing alive. Simple enough and easily accomplished."

I felt Jeremiah's unease at that statement. I didn't think the plan was all that complicated, but maybe he thought it was. After all, he's a scout, not a fighter. "Sir, ah, well... I don't feel all that comfortable in a battle zone."

I smiled reassuringly. "Lieutenant, are you good with a blaster?"

"I wouldn't say good, but average, sir."

Average. "That'll work." After all, these men were trained to be able to use blasters. These men aren't average at blasting. They are actually pretty accurate. Even the newly made clones were accurate. Although, one almost blasted me...

"Ah, sir..." Marcus trailed off.

"Yes, lieutenant?"

"Jeremiah... really isn't good at blasting. Take it from someone who has worked with him for many years. I, however, am a very good aim."

"Well, Marcus, I guess you've just promoted yourself to a mentor. Teach Jeremiah how to use a blaster."

Marcus sighed. "Yes, sir."

It took Aayla, Ahsoka, and the troops about an hour to arrive at our position. Aayla was glad to see the scouts alive and greeted them. Ahsoka and I wandered off to speak for a moment without disturbance. "Anakin..." she trailed off. "Do you know how worried I was when Aayla told me you left?"

Her eyes met mine and I could see all the sorrow within them. She honestly didn't want to be separated from me, no matter how long it was. I sighed. "I'm sorry, Ahsoka. I needed to go out alone. That way you wouldn't get hurt if I ended up doing something stupid. Don't be angry with Aayla for not telling you before I left. I made her wait until I was a distance away before she told you where I was."

I glanced back at where Aayla was. The scouts were being taught how to aim better and – in Jeremiah's case – how to blast in general. Marcus was right; Jeremiah wasn't a very good aim. Just as I was about to say something to Ahsoka, a blast flew about half an inch in front of my face, causing me to lose my footing momentarily. "Master!" Ahsoka exclaimed.

She got down on the ground next to me, checking for injuries. Jeremiah, Marcus, and the rest ran over to our position. "Skywalker, are you okay?" Aayla asked.

Jeremiah was in total shock at the fact that he could have killed me had the blast been a little less accurate.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," I said, hurriedly. I didn't like the attention, especially when it was no big deal.

"I'm so sorry, sir. I really need to improve that... I could have killed you!" Jeremiah felt horrible – I could sense it. I got up off the ground.

"No worries, lieutenant," I replied, putting my hand on his shoulder. "I'm still alive, fortunately, so no harm done." His sorrow eased very slowly. I didn't want to make him uncomfortable with being around me since he almost killed me. I wasn't the kind of person to abandon a trooper in need. "Lieutenant, once we return to Coruscant, we're going to get you some expert training."

Jeremiah saluted me. "Yes, sir. Thank you, sir."

I dismissed the troops, but Aayla and Ahsoka lingered near me. Once the troops were out of hearing range, Aayla decided to speak. "Anakin, that was very kind of you – especially in that situation."

"We're only human. We all make mistakes – some bigger than others, – but that's all right. We live it and get through it."

Aayla nodded at me. She couldn't exactly relate to the 'human mistakes,' but I'm pretty sure she knew what I was talking about. "We need a plan. I'm going to coordinate with the troops, all right?"

I nodded at Aayla. "Yes, Master."

After she walked away, Ahsoka took my hand in hers. "You are the kindest, most amazing person in the galaxy, Anakin. I hope you know that."

I wrapped my hand around hers, weaving our fingers together. "It's all because of you."

She looked up at me and I looked down at her. She gave me a huge smile and I smiled back. Perhaps this love will be better than the last...