POV: Ahsoka Tano

I woke up the morning after we met up with Anakin again to hear a lot of fighting going on. It wasn't the type we normally hear in a battle zone. The troops were fighting.

We had set up small tree-like tents last night, which were completely uncomfortable. The only thing that made it bearable was that Anakin had stayed with me. I got up off of the ground and walked out into the clearing where a group of troops were standing, bickering like children.

As odd as it was, Anakin and Master Secura were nowhere to be found. I couldn't even feel them in the Force. Perhaps they were just out of reach at the moment, but I couldn't help wondering what was wrong with the troops. "Troopers!" I exclaimed, to no avail.

The boys weren't going to listen to a 'young one.' That was their terminology for me, regardless of whose Padawan I was. Even being the Padawan to The Chosen One meant nothing. I tried to get their attention several other times, still nothing. I ran toward the middle of the group, trying to break up whatever was going on. Instead of letting me pass, I was pushed and shoved out of the way until I finally hit the ground.

I was working on getting up as I heard a lightsaber ignite and a deep voice boom. "Troopers!" Immediately after the exclamation, all the commotion died down. A mechanical hand reached down to me, offering help for standing. I took it and looked into the eyes of my Master and lover. I smiled at him, but he wore his trademark frown. He half smiled at me before turning to the group of clones. "Now, what seems to be the trouble here?" Anakin began walking toward the group, trying to split it up. The troops automatically moved in his presence. It was like a magnetic connection. He moved that way and they moved another. After all the standing troopers moved, there were two battered men lying on the ground. It was Captain Rex and a lower ranking clone. "Rex, what's going on?"

Rex stood up and saluted Anakin, "This trooper threatened that he would kill you, sir. We fear he is losing his mind."

Anakin looked back and forth between the two men. It was quite obvious that Rex was telling the truth. Just by looking at the other clone, I could tell he had a wild look in his eye. The look on Anakin's face was unbelievable. He was confused and sympathetic. He wasn't quite sure what to do about the clone. Before Anakin could say anything, Master Secura came out of nowhere. "I have a plan, Skywalker."

All eyes immediately went to Master Secura. It's like she chose the right time to interject so that everyone could focus on her. Even Anakin looked at her, which made me a bit jealous...

Master Secura called Anakin and me into a private area – which also gave us a clear view of the troopers, but they couldn't see us. "Well, Aayla?" Anakin asked, seeming rather annoyed.

She smiled at Anakin. "Skywalker, relax. Keep your emotions at bay. I can feel everything."

"I'm sorry, Master Secura. I'm not exactly glad to see our troops turn on us. Now, what's your plan?"

She sighed. "Well, hopefully this will work to success. Skywalker, you will lead about ten troopers into the center of the base, while Ahsoka and I lead around the edges of the area. You will provide a distraction for us, and we'll overpower their forces."

I could just imagine Anakin thinking 'why am I always the distraction?' He did always end up distracting the enemies. He didn't say anything disrespectful, he just nodded.

Two hours later.

"How much longer are we going to sit here, Master?" I asked over the comlink.

"Until your Master signals us to attack," Aayla replied.

"You two may want to cut down on the chatter. You're distracting the distraction," Anakin mumbled through the static. I was really beginning to miss Anakin. It was rough hiding on the side of a tree-plant, awaiting Anakin's signal that he needed our help. "You're not going to believe this," he whispered.

"What?" Aayla and I asked simultaneously.

"The base isn't above ground level. It's below it. The base that the troops found was a decoy. It's completely empty. I think you two had better get over here..."

"Come on, troops," I said. The portion of the troops I was going to lead followed behind me as we made our way to Anakin's position.

It took us several minutes to arrive, but we made it in one piece. "Where is it?" Aayla asked.

Anakin moved forward and brushed some dust from the ground. "Right here."

"How are we going to get in?"

Aayla looked at me like I was someone she'd never met. Apparently, this thought hadn't crossed her mind. Anakin smirked at Aayla's reaction to my question. "Well, I guess we'll have to blow our way in," he said, pulling out a small monitor. "It seems that it's almost like a cave and it goes on continuously. As far as I can see, there's no end. It's about five to six meters deep, though, with plenty of rock formations in our way."

I love how smart Anakin is. That's what made me fall in love with him in the first place, aside from his fantastic personality. "Skywalker, do we have anything on us to 'blow our way in?'"

Anakin glanced at Aayla. "Of course not," he smirked.

She frowned. "I thought we didn't. How do you plan on getting in there?"

Anakin's gaze on Aayla never broke. "Well, the droids got down there somehow, right? There must be a hatch somewhere to allow us entrance."

"Okay, Skywalker. You lead the way... wherever we're going."

POV: Anakin Skywalker

I have no idea where exactly I'm supposed to be leading Aayla. "You lead the way..." You're the master, why don't you lead the way? Ah, well, she's probably just expecting me to take the attack head-on before she engages in any fighting. Aayla hides behind me on occasion and it sends off some very unnatural vibes from a Jedi.

Yes, Aayla has felt a romantic connection to me before. She still has a slight one, but it's not as strong as it once was. I'm very good at keeping secrets. When she had a major affection towards me, I was in love with Padme. I hid that for the longest time until it almost killed me. Luckily, I received my Padawan to keep myself alive a bit longer.

Aayla was speaking to a trooper about the upcoming plans, which sound somewhat unrealistic if you ask me. Ahsoka quickened her pace to get by my side, "Anakin - I mean, Master?"

I looked down at her, "Yes, Ahsoka?"

Both of our eyes flashed to the figures behind us. They were all deep in their own conversations, leaving Ahsoka and I to have our own. "Did you feel... what I felt back there?" Right now she was feeling nervous, but I knew what she was talking about.

"Yes, how could I not? Your jealousy was almost like a planet preparing to explode. The emotion was to the extreme. I can't believe Aayla didn't say anything to you about it."

"Maybe she thought you'd say something to me," she began, looking up at me. "Will you?"

"Hm, maybe later, my Padawan. We have a few things to talk about." I felt a sudden wave of pleasure from her. My heart started to pick up its pace as if her emotion had an effect on it. "Ahsoka, calm the emotion, please," I whispered.

Within seconds, her pleasure went back to peacefulness. I reached out into the Force to feel Aayla's emotions - just curiosity. I hope she doesn't ask either of us what exactly is going on. I would hate to lie to her. "Anakin, I'm -"

"Roger, roger. Moving into the base now, General." That was a mechanical voice. The Separatist base entrance was near!

I ignited my lightsaber and used the Force to increase my running, taking off like lightning toward the sound. I felt Ahsoka's presence keeping up with me and Aayla's close behind her.

There was a large rock in front of me; I decided to hide behind it in attempt to listen to the droids. "Master, do you think we found the entrance?"

"I hope so, Ahsoka. Where's - never mind."

Aayla smirked at me. "Looking for me, General?"

My eyes met Aayla's and I could feel her affection for me. It was like running into a wall blindly. Her emotions began to overwhelm me and then Ahsoka's started to mix with them. The love and jealousy were too much for me. "Ladies," I almost shouted.

"What?" they said, simultaneously.

"Calm down, okay?"

I looked between the two. Aayla's blue skin flushed darker, expressing a blush. Ahsoka's lekku stripes darkened to a deeper shade of blue – possibly expressing embarrassment and some more jealousy.

The two were about to answer me and I was about to thank them for calming themselves down, when a barrage of blasts sounded. I ignited my lightsaber instinctively and began to deflect each shot. My squadron began firing moments later, after discussing a quick plan of action. There were about three to four groups of droids at least.

Within five minutes, about three fourths of the droid group was destroyed. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ahsoka struggling with quite a bit of the battle droids. I looked at Aayla, who was a distance away, having no problem at all.

I charged towards Ahsoka. Unfortunately, that left me vulnerable. I was blasted in the side, but despite the pain, I still needed to help my Padawan. "Master!" she yelled. I sliced off the remainder of droids around her. "Master, are you okay?"

"Yes, Ahsoka, I'm fine."

The pain was beginning to become unbearable, but I had to press on to finish this battle and hopefully destroy the Separatist base. Aayla came over to us. "Skywalker, I saw you get blasted. Are you injured?"

"I'm fine." Her eyebrow rose, but I chose not to acknowledge it. "We need to get into that base."

Ahsoka's worry changed into determination. I knew she wouldn't let me down; she never has. Aayla on the other hand, grew increasingly worried. "Skywalker -"

"Aayla, I'm fine. Focus on the objective, please." I know I sound grumpy, but I knew what had to be done. She had to be commanded to focus; if she did otherwise she could become a detriment to our cause.

Ahsoka spoke up. "Master, we lost quite a few men."

I glanced back at the remainder of our troopers. We started out with fifty... and now we had around fifteen. "We'll make the best of it. There are eighteen of us. We can split up into three groups. You five," I said, pointing at five troopers, "go with Aayla." I turned to another five, "You five go with Ahsoka." And finally, I turned to Rex and four others. "You're all with me. Keep your comlinks on and let's get the show on the road." We each went in different directions to attempt finding the entrance. I took the north end, Ahsoka took the east, and Aayla took the west. After about an hour, I had found an entrance. I contacted the others immediately. "Hey, guys, I found an entrance. What are your locations?"

"I'm a short distance away, Skywalker. Making my way toward you now," Aayla replied.

"Coming, Master."

I had a feeling that Ahsoka would get here first... Like I said, I never get let down by Ahsoka. She was here within two minutes – with a few men remaining. "Ahsoka, what happened to your men?"

She looked at me, "We... were slightly ambushed. We lost two. Where's Aayla?"

That was a good question. I hit the button on my comlink, "Aayla, come in."

"Skywalker, I require assistance. The Separatists don't want us around..."

I could hear blasters in the background before the connection fizzled out. "Come on!" I shouted. Ahsoka, the troops, and I ran to where Aayla was last located. I hoped that we would arrive before it was too late and I hoped she wasn't in too much danger. It would be difficult to overtake the entire base without Aayla's help. We were short on troops and couldn't contact the Jedi Temple. I came to the conclusion that the Separatists were jamming our signals.

We were almost to Aayla when the ground gave way. I heard Ahsoka yell for me and the cries of the men. We hit the ground and several large pieces of rubble separated us. I was left alone, but at least I could handle myself. Ahsoka had the troops to cover her. I was about to attempt contacting Ahsoka, but the air changed suddenly.

The air was filled with a gas... I could feel my consciousness failing.

POV: Third Person

Anakin fell to the ground, losing consciousness. A group of droids made their way through the gaseous mist to retrieve his body. The Separatists had a plan all set up for The Chosen One.

Ahsoka and the troops were also being gassed. Ahsoka, luckily, had a breather to protect her from the toxins. The troopers were also lucky to have their helmets.

Aayla had fallen through the ground, but had not been gassed. She and two of her troops had survived the fall. She was closest to Ahsoka and could track her, but couldn't contact her via comlink. She and her troopers headed towards Ahsoka.