Crunch.

Wince.

Acutely un-Jedi, to be completely honest, but stepping on the exoskeleton of the heavily armored Kaialrites was bothersome on a number of levels - at one point, Ahsoka Tano would have seen it as disgusting, certainly at the beginning of her tutelage, at another point would have forced herself to go on, unthinking, and now almost stopped to wonder about who that person was.

He was a person, he had feelings, and reasons for his choices.

"Ahsoka!" She heard her name being called from above; her nose crinkled as she regarded her Master's tense expression, "Your focus belongs here and now!"

She rolled her eyes lightly, and thought (out loud, her mistake) when does he abide by the Jedi tradition? Still, because he was right, Ahsoka closed her eyes, breathed in deeply, and squared her shoulders. Her dark lashes lightly touched her cheeks, and her palms were flat on the ground as she hovered in a squat position. Her lekku quivered once, and then her eyes flew open, Master, she hissed through their bond.

Steady. I feel it, too.

No, no - Master! Horror played across her features, blue eyes widening in complete dread as she gazed at him - fear at her as he turned to her. NO! Her mind screamed, her shields beginning to crumble and exposing her thoughts - hopefully, he would move.

But it was too late - he jumped, but the jump was wild, the flames licking behind him. The building was up in smoke so fast that Ahsoka swore had she blinked she would not have seen the change.

Her legs locked. No.

He landed awkwardly, on his feet, but his legs buckled and he fell. Horror-struck, the small teenager dashed out to him, never minding the thickness of the smoke that billowed around her. She fell to her knees, mindless of the flames approaching.

What was he thinking?

He should have felt this!

"Shields, Snips." The man coughed, crumpling up somewhat as he did so and gazing at her with a glazed expression.

Shields. Shields. For a reason she could not fathom, Ahsoka could not erect those tight barriers. She felt her lekku grow warm in shame and stuttered, "We have to get you out of here."

Anakin only folded further into himself, as though he was begging her no - just no. Like he wanted to lie here and die?

"You can't change everything." He mumbled to the girl. "Ahsoka, don't be - afraid. You - know it -."

He fell silent, gazing up a her, and then with a slight sigh, because it was too much to talk it leads to the dark side. Don't be scared. You're smarter than I was ever w-with perception.

Another slight sigh, and Ahsoka felt him tug on their Master-Padawan bond. The bond was there, surely, and had grown over the years, but it was not often used. Some Jedi constantly conversed with their minds (if in close enough range) and could decipher thoughts if left unguarded. But the twosome had become more wary over the years and left the bond somewhat fragmented. Ahsoka swore to fix that when they left.

When you leave. If nobody comes soon...

Master, I won't let you die.

There's a fire right behind you, you're looking sick from lack of oxygen. I want you to leave. Now. You won't die here.

No.

What's the point of staying? Listen to me, Ahsoka. If you leave, one dies. If you stay, two die.

If I take you with me -

Then two still die.

Or two live.

The smoke was choking both of them, and Ahsoka could only feel a tendril of precious air reach her lungs. She was feeling sick indeed, but she staggered to her feet, and her Master, who was looking more and more tired by the moment, gazed at her, albeit angrily. She ignored this as she pulled him to her feet and draped his arm over her shoulder, and forced him to walk.

It didn't go unnoticed that Anakin's face instantly contorted in pain, and his breath hitched. Ahsoka glanced at him in faint worry, and noted that his ankle was in a rather disturbing position.

But it was walk or die. And so they walked.

It was hard, arduous, with the flames licking behind them, though the flames slow due to the materials that made up the building. Once they reached the ash of a battleground, strewn of weaponry and bodies (Ahsoka bit back her disgust, though Anakin grunted, showing that he could still read her like a book) that would burn.

No funeral. They didn't each care.

They were awful. The Jedi were awful, the Kaialrites were awful, the Sith, the Separatists - nobody was perfect, or nice.

She had killed, they had killed. She had watched death, Ahsoka had experienced near death. She had seen hate. This was hate. So were was love? When was there peace, or mercy?

It took all her strength to just walk. Tears left scars down her cheeks, dampening her skin. She did not sob, her crying was silent.

And Anakin knew - he heard her thoughts like she had confided them to him, he saw her weeping though he was not looking at her. His heart constricted when he considered Padme - beautiful, lovely Padme who kept his world intact.

Should he lose her, he would wallow in Ahsoka's despair. He did, but he could live it. Anakin knew his Padawan was drowning in hopelessness, and suddenly thought - should she leave me, what will happen to her?

She'd live. She'd mourn, but she would live. She would become a Jedi.

Neither spoke, and finally, they reached the Clones. Ahsoka's step finally faltered, and her knees bent as she fell. Anakin's remained unsteady on his feet as he regarded her, but soon, he was lead into the Transport - and that was all he knew.

Swish.

Swosh.

"I'm dead, aren't I?" Anakin mumbled through thick lips. When else did you feel so numb, so out of touch with reality?

The concerned voice was his master answered, and Anakin felt like he was an apprentice again, but for once he didn't mind. He relished the feeling, before saying, "If not dead, how bad?"

"Punctured lung, three broken lips, your knee is in pretty bad shape, concussion, and otherwise, fine. A little banged up, but otherwise fine." Despite his 'reassuring' words, Anakin detected that his mentor was somewhat shaken up.

"That's it?"

"They had a hard time getting you stable." Hesitate. "You're so close, Anakin, you and your Padawan. We thought we'd lose both of you..."

"Both of us?"

And then a silent despair numbed him. It penetrated him, because she would never understand what Anakin had so badly needed her to know.

"No." Another long pause, then, "Anakin, she's alive."

"But?"

"Unresponsive. Padawan, she went into cardiac arrest. We got her breathing, but last night she began to project - nightmares - and then fell silent. Her shields are gone, but we can't find her. Like there's a shell -."

"There is life somewhere." Anakin swore, silencing his master.

Hey, y'all. So, this was supposed to be a oneshot, but it isn't. It'll probably have a few chapters. It's a drabble, it won't be very long.

So other updates that I'm planning on; Ascending in the Light - very, very soon. I like this idea.

Living in the Dark - I don't want to leave this unfinished, but I'm having a hard time

Silent Hunter - I have a ton of those drabbles in my docs, I'm working on sorting them.

~HorseStar

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